Yakult U.S.A. Inc., a maker of yogurt-like probiotic drinks, plans to build its first U.S. factory in Fountain Valley.
The Japanese beverage maker, which is planning a national expansion, is expected to relocate its U.S. headquarters from Torrance to the Fountain Valley facility.
The factory could double the company’s production of Yakult—a drink designed to aid digestion—to about 250,000 bottles a day. It’s being built on almost 9 acres that had been home to a local nursery for several decades.
Yakult, part of Tokyo-based Yakult Honsha Co., bought the land at 17235 Newhope St. for $5.8 million, or about $650,000 per acre.
The deal is one of the larger land sales Orange County’s seen for a commercial property so far this year.
The plant is set to be one of the bigger industrial devel-opments—or commercial projects of any type—seen in OC of late.
There only are two industrial projects larger than 100,000 square feet under construction in the county. Both are in Anaheim.
Yakult’s building is expected to be about 150,000 square feet and should open in 2012, according to the company. A projected cost for the building’s construction hasn’t been disclosed. It could top $20 million.
The building is set to include some office space, likely to house headquarter operations, according to brokers.
Yakult makes probiotic beverages, which are drinks that contain friendly bacteria meant to correct imbalances in the digestive system and boost the immune system, according to the company.
The company’s drinks taste like yogurt but technically aren’t. Yakult is a fermented dairy drink that contains probiotic cultures rather than yogurt cultures, according to the company’s website.
Globally, about 28 million of the bite-sized Yakult bottles are consumed per day, according to the company. Its largest markets are in Asia.
Yakult is sold in more than 30 countries. It was introduced widely to grocery stores in the U.S. in 2007.
Now the product’s sold in many chain stores, including those owned by Kroger Co., Safeway Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
The drink’s main competitors include DanActive by Groupe Danonesa and GoodBelly by NextFoods Inc.
U.S. sales of Yakult stood at about 100,000 bottles per day as of January, according to the company, with the most purchases in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico.
Revenue in the Americas—led by growing sales in Brazil and Mexico—were $468 million in 2009.
Southern California is the company’s largest U.S. market, according to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Teruo Tabuchi.
Yakult is looking to expand in the Midwest and East Coast, officials said.
The Fountain Valley plant, on 387,000 square feet of land, should be able to handle any big increases in demand. The building will have the capability to make as many as 760,000 bottles per day, according to the company.
Now Made in Mexico
Yakult’s beverages sold in the U.S. and Canada now are made in Guadalajara, Mexico. The company will continue to import drinks from Mexico to the U.S. until the new plant opens.
The Fountain Valley land was purchased with cash through a court-overseen overbid process, according to Gary Allen, senior vice president with the Newport Beach office of Grubb & Ellis Co.
Because of Yakult’s unique manufacturing process, it was hard to find an existing building that fit its needs, Allen said.
Allen and Yasushi Shiromi, from the Torrance office of Grubb, represented the company in the transaction.
Jim Snyder and Andy Walburger, from the Newport Beach office of Lee & Associates, represented the seller, Three Star Properties.
The site previously was a longtime home to Three Star Nursery Inc.
The site also had been marketed as a potential location for a trio of 42,000-square-foot offices, as well as a multibuilding industrial park.
Yakult’s expected to use its own design team and is likely to use a multinational construction company to help build the factory.
