Production and Sale of Yakult LT to Start in Hong Kong

Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd. (President: Sumiya Hori) today announced that Hong Kong Yakult Co., Ltd., will start producing and selling Yakult LT (Yiliduo LT), a low-sugar version of the original Yakult drink, on May 18, 2011.

In Hong Kong, there has been a growing tendency of consumers to look for low- and reduced-sugar products, following the enforcement in July 2010 of the nutrition labeling regulation that mandates the indication of certain nutritious information-such as energy and sugar content-on the surface of packaged foods. In line with this new tendency, Hong Kong Yakult has been importing Yakult Light from Yakult Co., Ltd. (Taiwan) and selling the product in Hong Kong since May 2010.

It is expected that Hong Kong consumers’ health consciousness and demand for low-calorie, low- and reduced-sugar products will further increase in the future. Based on this prospect, we have set up a new production line at Hong Kong Yakult’s factory to produce Yakult LT for local sales.

Under Hong Kong’s new nutrition labeling scheme, the sugar content of a beverage must be less than 5g per 100 ml to use the term “low sugar” in nutrition claims on packages or elsewhere. In the Hong Kong market, there are not many beverages that meet that criterion at the moment and Yakult LT will be one of very few fermented milk drinks that have less than 5g of sugar per bottle.

With the launch of Yakult LT production and sales in Hong Kong, we aim to further increase the market penetration of the Yakult brand and expand sales there.

An outline of the Yakult LT sales plan for Hong Kong is as follows:

[Reference: Profile of Hong Kong Yakult]

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