Yakult Danone India today announced the launch of its first probiotic drink - Yakult. Yakult Danone India(YDI) is a 50: 50 joint venture between Japanese probiotics major Yakult Honsha and French dairy major Group Danone, started in 2005.The company has set up a manufacturing facility at Rai Food Park in Haryana with a capacity of 1 million bottles per day.It aims to sell 1 lakh bottles a day for the 2008-09 fiscal and has made an initial investment of Rs 136 crore in the probiotic business."Though the market for probiotics in India is still at a nascent stage, health consciousness among Indian consumers is growing at a fast pace. As pioneers and the global leaders in this category, we will play a major role in developing the probiotics food market in India. We are confident Yakult will be accepted well by Indian consumers as an intrinsic part of their daily diet," Kiyoshi Oike, managing director,YDI said.The product will be available in Delhi and NCR in the first phase followed by other metros and tier 2 cities in the north.The product has been priced at Rs 10 for a 65 ml bottle. It is said to contain more than 6.5 billion beneficial bacteria that boost immunity and aid digestion.
