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Japanese probiotic beverage company Yakult USA is building a new factory in northwest Georgia, investing $305 million in what will be its second manufacturing plant in the United States.
The factory is expected to create 90 new jobs in Bartow County, which has landed a recent string of foreign-investment wins including a $5 billion battery plant operated by SK and Hyundai, as well as a new facility for Korean solar panel maker Q Cells and a related supplier.
While the Korean investments are newer, Cartersville-Bartow has significant prior experience with Japanese firms in past decades. Among the names with a longstanding presence there are Toyo Tire, Yanmar, Komatsu, Nippon Light Metal and Sakai.
After its founding in 1999 to break into the U.S. market, Yakult’s U.S. arm put its first domestic factory in California in 2014, offering tours to the public to help them understand the benefits of probiotics for intestinal health.
According to a news release from Gov. Brian Kemp’s office, the local factory is expected to be larger than the facility in California, where the company also operates its North American headquarters.
Yakult was founded more than 90 years ago after researcher Minoru Shirota cultivated a new strain of lactobacillus casei at Kyoto University School of Medicine. The company continues to operate under “Shirota-ism” a three-pronged philosophy exposited by its founder: that gut health leads to long life, products should be affordable to all and preventive medicine is foundational for health.
Now based at an office tower in Tokyo, the company posted $3.4 billion in sales in 2022 across 40 countries and counts about a third of the world’s population — some 2.4 billion people — among the market reachable by deliveries or retail distribution. Outside Japan, which makes up more than half of sales, Asia is its strongest market, followed by the Americas and then Europe. More than 40 million of its small plastic bottles are consumed per day around the world. Only 565,000 of those per day were in the U.S. and Canada, according to a 2022 annual report.
In many Asian countries and a few Central and South American markets, drinks are delivered by so-called “Yakult Ladies,” a network of more than 80,000 (mostly) female delivery professionals who carry product on motorbikes or in cars. The model is not used in the U.S.
Like many Japanese firms, Yakult is focused on meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and has a developed a 2030 plan that aims to reduce the use of plastic and greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent each by the end of the decade. The company also aims to reduce water consumption by 10 percent, even as it expands globally. Along with drinks, the company also operates business units focused on pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
The new factory will be located at the Highland 75 Industrial Park in Cartersveille, a 783-acre park whose website lists only one remaining 50-acre site.
Highland 75 is a Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development, or GRAD site, a certification process that includes due diligence on zoning, environmental issues and endangered species investigation, utility services, wetlands delineation.
The investment comes as Georgia Department of Economic Development marks 50 years with a trade and investment office in Tokyo.
“We could not choose a better opportunity to celebrate 50 years of continuous representation in Japan than by adding Yakult to our business community,” said Pat Wilson, commissioner of economic development, in a statement.
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