The Cult of Yakult: How the Gut Health Craze Started with One Little Bottle

If someone were to tell you to take care of your gut, what would your, er, gut reaction be?

Yakult would probably be the first answer to pop into your mind before you could Google other ways; comedian Gabe Mercado’s popular catchphrase “Okey ka ba tiyan?” echoing in your mind.

This bottle of Yakult 1000 is only available in convenience stores and supermarkets in Japan. It veers away from the trademarked bottle design to help it stand out on shelves

The single-serving tarty beverage has embedded itself into local consciousness that staunchly. The company has been operating in the Philippines since the late ’70s. And, while you can technically count yogurt and yogurt drinks as its competitor, it is unshakeable in its market position as a leader, outlasting any similar bacteria-based drink that tried to capture Filipinos’ hearts—or is it stomachs?

This is hardly an overgeneralization. Have you ever had a tummy ache and told yourself you need a cup of yogurt?

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A Yakult marketing executive let slip that many Filipinos believe it is a homegrown brand, and who could blame them? Yakult has dominated so much that the drink itself has become its own self-sustaining marketing machine. It’s made frequent pop culture cameos, from Ant-Man, which was sponsored by Yakult’s head office, the Tokyo-based Yakult Honsha, to To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and the k-drama sensation Queen of Tears, which came as a pleasant surprise to the company. 

Most Yakult establishments have their own vending machine that you won't find anywhere else in Japan. This proximity ensures the highest quality control

Bars and restaurants feature it in various drinks; seeing Yakult on the list of ingredients is enough to make your mouth water. Vets prescribe it for pets. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, articles about gut health preventing the illness culminated in a shortage and launched a temporary black market where bottles sold double or triple the SRP. 

But why? Is it a proverbial gut feeling? The age-old story of just a terrific product? Brand recall? Again, the voice of Gabe Mercado, whose commercials stopped airing over a decade ago, is still ringing in your head. 

Market Demands and Limitations

Despite penetrating 40 countries, its spirit is still very much Japanese: intentional, precise, and methodological. But its ubiquity is a measure of Yakult’s profound influence on local life.

Yakult Japan's roster includes the BF-1, which is designed to ease the stomach after a heavy meal; Pretio, which helps lower blood pressure; Mil-Mil and Mil-Mil S, which have bifidobacteria to aid digestion; and Joie, a drinkable yogurt that comes in plain and fruity flavors

It's why in its 45-year history in the Philippines, Yakult Philippines only has two products: the classic red bottle and the sugar-free Yakult Light, which was introduced only in 2014. In Japan, Yakult has over 50 products spanning various fermented drinks, “sippable” and “spoonable” yogurts, fruit and vegetable juices, black vinegar beverages, soups, and even beauty products. 

This is Yakult's Green Tea, one of the few products that do not have lactic acid bacteria in any form. Yakult also has black vinegar drinks. energy beverages, snacks, and even broths.

But this curated catalog might have worked in the brand’s favor, at least locally. Without the distraction of a smorgasbord, nothing diluted its impact. The few but defined features in Yakult Philippines have all become iconic: its trade secret recipe, patented bottle, and traditional Yakult Ladies, of which some 4,000 are still roaming in the Philippines. According to Yakult Philippines Vice President Michael Ong, this system, which began in Japan in 1963 and 1978 in the Philippines, served as a blueprint for many of the popular direct-selling schemes you see today. 

A Yakult Lady in Japan. She is 72 – a few years older than the age range of 20 to 70 and has been with Yakult for 46 years. Because of her tenure, she is free to choose her work days and goes around her area thrice a week

Yakult Philippines’ two-item portfolio is also logistical. Currently, the Calamba-based factory, working eight shifts almost round the clock, can produce 4.7 million bottles of the original Yakult daily. And while that’s more than 10 percent of the daily global intake, it can barely keep up with the demand. The Philippines is currently in the top four countries by consumption, recently edging out South Korea. The local team has had to ration distribution, which proved to be a headache during the great pandemic hoarding.

Quality control is another concern. Yakult products must be stored at 10°C temperatures and must be consumed within 45 days of manufacture. Otherwise, the bacteria and flavor may be compromised. The local company has had to sanction stores that fail to maintain its standards. It’s why Ong has also been careful about other enterprises that use the Yakult name for marketing purposes.  “We can’t be amenable to third-party vendors,” he explains. 

The cold storage room of a Yakult Sales Center. Yakult Ladies in Japan visit their assigned Sales Center to fill their carts every morning. Most Yakult products must be kept below 10°C so the women's carts come with ice, ice packs, and insulated boxes. In the Philippines, Yakult Ladies get their stocks via delivery vans that go to their homes

It's also a reason the company can’t produce the mythical one-liter bottle that fans have been requesting for a while. “It’s meant to be a single serve because you can’t store the bottle once it’s been opened. Contamination might set in,” he adds. However, Yakult Honsha does have a 500-ml lactic drink, which has become viral on social media. It does not contain the temperamental L. casei strain Shirota but instead has galacto-oligosaccharides liquid sugar to mimic its flavor.

In the next few months, Ong says Yakult will open another plant in Cagayan de Oro, which will not only ease the pressure from public clamor but might also serve as a jumping-off board for other Yakult products, perhaps even the latest Yakult 1000, Japan’s current bestseller, which has 100 billion L. casei strain Shirota. Both the classic and Light have eight billion per bottle. 

An elite private school in Japan serving balanced meals and a bottle of Yakult for lunch. The government and private institutions partner with different establishments to help promote nutrition in schools

Shirota-isms

These days, Yakult Honsha generates around $35.6 billion in sales annually. However, when its founder Dr. Minoru Shirota built the company, profit was far from mind.

Dr. Shirota grew up in a time when Japan was less than affluent. Around him, children died from infectious disorders, such as food poisoning, dysentery, cholera, typhoid, and more. Seeing this embedded within him the consciousness to help other people, to prevent rather than treat. 

Yakult Beautiens also has personal care products, such as toothpaste and sunscreen

By 1930, Dr. Shirota succeeded in culturing a fortified strain of lactic acid bacteria that could withstand gastric juices and bile, delivering the bacteria to the intestines alive. By 1935, Yakult was introduced to the market, first as a concentrate, then in the ready-to-drink milk form, which found success in its widespread appeal.

As Yakult’s popularity grew, Dr. Shirota maintained three key ideas, known now as Shirota-isms, the guiding principles of the company. He advocated preventive medicine, advocated that a healthy intestinal tract leads to long life, and believed that good health should be affordable.

A quick look at some of Yakult Beautiens products. Yakult Beautiens is Yakult Honsha's cosmetics subsidiary. Designed for the luxury beauty market, it's most premium product is The Cream, a ¥110,000 moisturizer that addresses aging, pigmentation, hydration, and more

True enough, much research supports the idea that a healthy gut leads to a better immune system. A 2021 paper in Nutrients detailed how gut microbiota can influence local, innate, and systemic immunity, particularly in combatting infectious diseases. A study by Professor Satoru Nagata proved how probiotics help curb the spread of norovirus among the elderly. Another study, by Professor Narumi Nagai showed how it helped improve sleep, alleviate stress, and ultimately enhance the quality of life in students.

As for the third precept, affordability encompasses more than just ¥40 price per bottle (that’s around P12 in the Philippines). Faithful to its roots of responding to the social and economic context, Yakult Honsha prioritizes connections. For example, it developed the Yakult Ladies system to help women flexibly earn extra income—a first in Japan at that time. They can choose their hours and locations based on their needs. In certain markets, daycare is also offered to mothers or guardians who need childminders for their kids as they perform their shifts. 

Freshly produced Yakult

Yakult Ladies are also encouraged to build connections within their community. They peddle on the streets, yes, but they also have regulars that expect them. They visit offices, announcing their arrival via Line and a loud “Ohio!” They mingle not just with bystanders but with top executives craving a Yakult fix, listening to their recommendations. Yakult Ladies are also trained to provide counsel, from the ideal drink to the beauty product that best suits their complexion. 

Yakult also partners with Japanese schools to ensure that children receive proper nutrition. It organizes lectures and health classes to explain the importance of gastrointestinal health. 

The Future of Gut Health

Despite its massive success, Yakult still has high hopes for the future. The Yakult Central Institute in Tokyo and Yakult Honsha European Research Center in Ghent regularly analyze the many ways to adapt L. casei strain Shirota and its derivatives to other formats. In fact, upon learning that this bacterium has immunostimulatory action-mediated anti-cancer properties, the Institute’s Pharmaceutical Research Department has developed the Campto, a plant-derived agent for cancer chemotherapy. It is currently used in Japan, the United States, and Europe. Another drug, Elplat, has become the premier choice for battling colorectal and stomach cancers. 

Yakult Beautiens is made in the Shonan Cosmetics Factory. Like all Yakult products, production is rigid and careful

In the manner of most responsible companies, Yakult also wants to reach 52.5 million bottles worldwide and reduce its plastic use and greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030.

But whatever happens, so long as Yakult Honsha, Yakult Philippines, or any other Yakult company sticks to the tenets of Shirota-ism and its rigor for quality and science, it won’t stray off course. And our guts will all be better for it.