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Special Feature 2 Local Communities

The Yakult Group not only sells products that help improve health, but also provides health-related information to customers in many different ways and promotes activities that keep communities safe and secure.
Here, we showcase our initiatives at Yakult Vietnam Co., Ltd.

    1. 3: We contribute to the health of local communities by selling and delivering products that are beneficial for people’s health and providing health-related information.
    2. 4: We provide accurate information on health for all ages, from children to older people.
    3. 5, 8: We contribute to women’s empowerment by offering job opportunities as Yakult Ladies.

Basic information

Company name
Yakult Vietnam Co., Ltd.
Founded
June 2006
Number of employees
1,034 (8 seconded Japanese staff and 1,026 local hires) (as of the end of May 2020)
Sales hubs
23 branches, 73 sales centers (as of the end of May 2020)
Plant
Vietnam Plant (Binh Duong Province)
Average daily sales
638,985 bottles (calculated based on cumulative total from January to May 2020)
Retailers
38,852 locations (as of the end of May 2020)

Home to 96.2 million people living in a country about 87% the size of Japan, Vietnam’s economy has been growing at a spectacular rate. It is a youthful and vibrant country with an average age of 31. In addition, over 70% of women aged 15 and above are participating in the labor force, demonstrating the major role they play in Vietnam's growth.

We hold health-related lectures for all kinds of people at hospitals, schools, preschools, partner plants, Yakult Lady centers and other locations. Covering a wide range of topics to suit participants —from the importance of the intestines to research paper publications on Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota— our lectures have also included well-received tips on how to prevent infection and proper hand washing procedure since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Conveying the value of health and Yakult through health-related lectures

I work as an instructor for health-related lectures. Even though Yakult has become a well-known brand, not everyone appreciates its benefits. Through the lectures, I try my best to convey the value of Yakult to as many people as possible.
I am glad to hear customers drinking Yakult talk about their positive experiences. That has been a source of pride and satisfaction for my work.

Easy-to-follow topics were well received

Yakult held health-related lectures for our hospital’s patients. The explanations were very easy to follow, and everyone seemed to have gained a deeper understanding of the importance of intestinal flora and the value of probiotics.
I think the participants will start drinking Yakult products for their health.

During plant tours, we talk about the history of Yakult and provide an overview of the plant, our products’ benefits, the importance of intestinal health and the Yakult Lady home delivery system, after which we give visitors a tour of the production site. People are also given the chance to see Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota under a microscope, which is quite popular.
Students, Yakult drinkers, women’s associations, senior citizens’ associations, medical professionals, and many other types of people participate, so we try to be creative to make sure our tour engages everyone.

Virtual reality plant tours

Yakult began offering VR plant tours from April 2019 to enable people farther away to see a safe, reliable, and high-quality plant. We conduct the tours for those participating in mini health-related lectures at Yakult centers and for direct sales partners and opinion leaders.

Yakult Ladies who watch over the community and deliver products and health information are an integral part of local communities.
Their average income is equivalent to the starting salary of college graduates. Because of the job’s stable income and social contribution aspect in working to help improve people’s health, their numbers have steadily increased 3.7 times compared to three years ago.

As a district health adviser

We believe that the health of our customers is our top priority, so we provide useful information based on each person’s health condition. I do my best as a health adviser for my district, in keeping with the concepts “preventing illness is key” and “daily Yakult consumption.”

I’m hard of hearing, so I communicate with the Yakult Lady by writing on paper. She’s always friendly and kind. She also gives me information on keeping healthy and preventing diseases, so I feel healthier than ever.

Moving up to the next level with a Yakult License

Monthly tests (six in total) are conducted on subjects such as basic conversations to inform customers of product benefits, product knowledge and health information. A license is issued to those who passed the tests.

Supporting Pink Ribbon activities

Breast cancer awareness is still low in Vietnam, so it is extremely important to promote awareness and screening for breast cancer prevention. In 2019, we donated around 3.65 million yen in total to several organizations, to provide aid to 10,000 people for breast cancer screening as well as to cooperate with an initiative donating wigs to 50 people who have lost their hair from chemotherapy.

Sponsoring events for training local food safety and health managers

We have been sponsoring training events for food safety and health managers promoted by the Food Safety and Health Department in Binh Duong Province. At the 2019 event, we helped with improving the knowledge, morale and sense of responsibility of food safety and health managers selected from various areas of Binh Duong Province, using case studies and other materials related to food safety and food sanitation.

Response to COVID-19

Since February 2020, we have been providing two Yakult bottles daily free of charge to quarantined patients and healthcare providers at six hospitals in major cities, with the cumulative total reaching 170,000 bottles as of June 21, 2020. We received the following feedback from a medical institution: “We appreciate your prompt offer of help to the hospital. Both the medical staff and patients are grateful as well.” We will continue with these efforts and increase the number of hospitals covered until the epidemic is over.
Further, we installed 50 hand-washing stands at entrances to health care centers, markets and hospitals, at the request of communities with high numbers of infection. Going forward, we plan to install 200 wash stands mainly in preschools nationwide, to help foster the custom of hand washing and prevent infectious diseases.