Yakult Danone may launch probiotic yoghurts

Yakult Danone India, the 50:50 joint venture between Yakult Honsha of Japan and Groupe Danone of France, may launch probiotic yoghurts to expand its product portfolio, said the company’s Director, commercial, Kenichi Nakane.

Set up in 2005, the JV has just one product in the marketplace, probiotioc health drink Yakult. Nakane says introducing more products cannot be ruled out as the category steadily expands in India. The probiotic food and beverage segment is estimated to be a little under Rs 100 crore. It is growing at a compounded annual rate of 14 per cent, say analysts.

Key companies in the space also include Nestle, Mother Dairy and Amul. Internationally, the $3.14-billion Yakult Honsha is considered to be strong in the probiotic space, with products ranging from yoghurts to health drinks.

The JV’s Yakult health drink is available in markets in the north, including Delhi/NCR, Punjab and Rajasthan, besides metros in the west such as Mumbai and Pune.

“The plan is,” says Nakane, “to move to all the key metros — Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. By 2011, we should be there.”

Yakult and Danone together put in Rs 136 crore into the JV. This has been since increased by another Rs 12 crore. This will go towards strengthening both production and distribution, says Nakane.

The company’s plant at Sonepat in Haryana produces some 100,000 bottles daily of the Yakult health drink. This will be ramped up in phases, he says, as the company attempts to sell the drink in more markets.