Yakult Honsha has set up a European R&D unit in the Netherlands as a “global hub for food innovation”.
The new centre sits within the company’s corporate facility on Wageningen Campus in Gelderland and has been established with a €3.7m ($4.3m) investment, the Japan-headquartered business said in a statement. The R&D unit was officially founded on 19 September.
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“In recent years, attending to diverse consumer needs and regulatory requirements in each country has become increasingly important,” Yakult said in the statement from company president Hiroshi Narita.
“By establishing an R&D centre outside of Japan, we aim to create a global hub for food innovation that contributes to health and wellbeing.”
Yakult added that “establishing an R&D centre on Wageningen Campus – originated around Wageningen University & Research, a world-renowned research institution in life sciences – is a rare and valuable opportunity”.
The company continued: “This initiative will not only enhance our product development capabilities but also enable us to explore new seeds of value creation that will drive future business growth. Through this global R&D framework, we aim to evolve into a truly global enterprise.”
In Europe, Yakult products are manufactured in countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Germany, Austria and Italy.
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By GlobalDataEarlier this week, Yakult said it will establish a branch in Austria that will merge with, and absorb, Yakult Oesterreich in the same country, a wholly owned subsidiary within its European operations. The move is expected on 1 October.
Last year, Yakult closed a factory in China as part of changes to try to make its local business more competitive.
Yakult’s net sales for the 2024 fiscal year dropped 0.7% to Y499.6bn ($3.3bn).
Operating profit was also down in the 12 months to 31 March 2025. It fell 12.6% to Y55.3bn.
Meanwhile, profit attributable to owners of the parent company declined 10.7% to Y45.5bn.
It was a similar picture for the first quarter of the new financial year.
Those results, issued in July, showed net sales dropped 4.9% to Y116.6bn. Operating profit slumped 32.2% to Y10.9bn. Profits to the owners fell 17.7% to Y11.6bn.
