Date:04/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/05/04/stories/2006050403001200.htm

Back Yakult Danone to set up facility here

Dharini Nagarajan

New Delhi , May 3

Yakult Danone India Pvt Ltd (YDI), a joint venture between Japan's Yakult Honsha and Group Danone of France, is set to invest Rs 136 crore towards the production of its fermented probiotic milk drink, Yakult.

The company is setting up a manufacturing facility in Haryana where it will produce one million bottles of the drink per day.

Bullish outlook

YDI is bullish on its activities in the country and expects a steady and strong demand for its functional foods drink. Mr Kiyoshi Oike, Managing Director, YDI told Business Line: "With an Indian shopper spending an average of Rs 2,500 on food, groceries and personal care items every month, we are convinced that our product will find a ready market in India as it has in the rest of the world. We sell close to 25 million bottles a day in 28 countries worldwide."

With increasing health consciousness, desire for better hygiene and convenience, Indians feature amongst the top 10 most frequent purchasers of food products fortified with health supplements. Mr Oike added that the drink has been certified by the Ministry of Health and Welfare as `food for specified health uses'.

Special delivery

Apart from marketing its drink through the regular trade channels, including departmental stores, malls, vending machines among others, the company is also looking to introduce its globally practiced strategy of delivering milk to the customer's doorstep through a network of women — `Yakult Ladies', as they are termed. "World over we have a system of home delivery through `Yakult Ladies' who help customers fully understand the benefits of our products. We have about 50,000 Yakult ladies in Japan and another 33,000 in overseas markets," Mr Oike said.