Spreading Gut Health Awareness: A Yakult Shanghai Journey

In 1935, Dr. Minoru Shirota, the founder of Yakult, developed the world's first bottle of "Yakult Active Cultured Milk Drink." 80 years later, Yakult is loved by consumers in 33 countries and regions, with daily sales reaching 30 million bottles. In mainland China, it has three major production bases in Guangzhou (where Yakult is sold under the name "Yili Duo" in Guangdong and Hainan provinces), Shanghai, and Tianjin. Starting from January 2nd, at the eager anticipation of consumers in Huai'an, Yakult officially entered the Huai'an market and became available in major supermarkets, chain stores, and convenience stores such as RT-Mart, Tesco, Lotte Mart, Yonghui, Metro, and Suguo. On March 6th and 7th, at the invitation of Yakult (China) Investment Co., Ltd., a reporter visited the Yakult Jiading Factory in Shanghai to witness firsthand Yakult's modern production process, industry-leading production equipment, and strict quality management system.  [NextPage]  A Truly Modern Factory The production of a bottle of Yakult begins in the strain room, where Yakult's proprietary Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain is initially activated in strain tanks. It is then expanded in a cultivation room under strict temperature and acidity control to form the Yakult fermentation liquid, which is then made into the Yakult concentrate in the blending room.  Further along, on the right side, is the molding room where 11 molding machines are busy producing Yakult's "distinctively shaped" small bottles. Each molding machine is highly productive, and the bottles produced are immediately transported to the filling room on the left via a sterile air compression system.  In the filling room, the reporter saw the small bottles being automatically and uniformly arranged, then sent to a printing machine for bottle printing. Subsequently, they enter the filling machine, where the Yakult liquid is filled and capped under a sterile vacuum environment. Finally, after being automatically packaged and neatly stacked by intelligent robotic arms, the products are transported to a 4°C cold storage for preservation.  Staff from the factory's quality management room randomly collect samples from the production site daily. They not only inspect the product's appearance but also conduct strict tests on its taste and microbial indicators. "After the product is produced, it undergoes two inspections at 24 and 48 hours to confirm there are no issues before it can enter the market, while also ensuring the traceability of every bottle," explained a Yakult staff member.    [NextPage]  Yakult's factory production lines operate with fully automatic, fully enclosed production. The entire process requires almost no manual intervention. The workers' main tasks are simply to pick out defective products from the conveyor belt, or to perform daily equipment checks, cleaning, and maintenance. This is a truly modern factory. It is understood that the factory's daily output is about 1.5 million bottles, yet the total number of employees is less than 150.  It is understood that since its official completion and operation in August 2006, the Yakult Jiading Factory has been open to visits from all sectors of society. To date, it has received over 400,000 visitors. It has successively been awarded the title of "National Industrial Tourism Demonstration Site" by the National Tourism Administration, "National Food Science Popularization Education Base" by the Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology, and "Shanghai Science Popularization Education Base" by the Shanghai Municipal Government. Yasuhiro Hirano, General Manager of Yakult (China) Investment Co., Ltd., stated, "Our production process is open, and daily external visits are a form of supervision for us. To date, Yakult has never had a food safety incident. Our goal is to ensure that every bottle of Yakult consumers drink is safe, reassuring, and healthy."  Reporter's Reflection: The courage to open up its production process demonstrates Yakult's confidence in its product quality and its sense of responsibility toward consumers. That Yakult can stand out in a fiercely competitive market and has been awarded the "China Food Health Seven-Star Award" and "Most Trusted Food Brand by Consumers" for many consecutive years is truly well-deserved.   [NextPage]  Essential "Gut Knowledge"  Before the tour began, a Yakult staff member gave a "gut knowledge" class titled "Let's Embark on a 'Intestinal Longevity' Journey" for the reporter and other visitors. In front of a human digestive tract model, visitors received an engaging and interesting popular science education on the intestines, from which they understood a key principle: intestinal health directly determines human health.  Zhang Meifang, Chief Physician of the Nutrition Department at the Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, was present in person and gave a speech titled "Probiotics and Health." A few numbers she shared were astonishing: only 5.19