Japanese scientist Dr. Minoru Shirota selected and cultivated theLactobacillus casei Shirota bacteria in the 1930s and he produced the fist glass bottles of Yakult in 1935. Since then, with over 80 years of history, Yakult is a global leader in the probiotic drinks market with a wide range of probiotic products using Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) and Bifidobacterium breve.

In 1994, Yakult Europe B.V., started its operations through its European headquarter in Almere and the first Yakult bottle in its iconic little container was first produced in Europe. You can now find this product in the dairy section at almost all supermarkets in The Netherlands.