It was 1935 when Dr. Minoru Shirota, microbiologist and researcher of the Faculty of Medicine of Kyoto in Japan, made available on the market a particular strain of lactic acid bacteria, Lactobacillus casei Shirota (LcS), able to reach the gut alive helping the balance of the gut. This strain of lactic acid bacteria has been cultivated in a skimmed milk drink which was named Yakult. At the beginning, the drink was only locally distributed even if his projects went well beyond the Japanese border. So Dr. Shirota’s dream was to share his discovery and worldwide distribute the drink.
Today like then, the core of Yakult is represented by the scientific research which is also the basis of our philosophy: to contribute to the people wellbeing through a continuous commitment to the scientific research and specialization in the field of probiotics.
80 years later, everyday in the world, millions of people drink a bottle of Yakult. Dr. Shirota’s dream has come true and we keep on looking ahead the next 80 years with the same far-sightedness…
Elie Metchnikoff published the theory of longevity...
Dr. Minoru Shirota, Japanese scientist and Yakult’s founder, began to study Medicine at the University of Kyoto...
Minoru Shirota succeeded in isolating the lactic acid bacteria that he was studying for many years...
Dr. Shirota decided to put the lactic acid bacteria he discovered in a milk drink easy to metabolize and to drink...
Dr. Shirota founded the Microbiology Central Institute in Kyoto...
The Yakult Ladies are born...
During the Tokyo Olympic Games, the athletes from all the countries tasted Yakult for the first time...
The glass bottles were replaced by a new packaging...
Yakult enters into cosmetic market with skin care products.
Yakult arrives in Europe. In 1993, Almere, in the Netherlands, became the European headquarter...
On March 28th 1994 in Almere, Yakult went into production...
Yakult is ISO 14001 certified...
Particularly studied for the European market, Yakult Light is launched in 2002. In 2002 and 2006 Yakult Light won the Innova Classic prize.
The first Yakult European Research Center is established in Gand, Belgium.
Yakult arrives in Malta.