Korea Yakult

hy Co., Ltd (Registered/doing business as 에치와이),[3] formerly Korea Yakult (hangul: 한국야쿠르트 ) is a Korean food company based in Seocho-gu, Seoul; The Korean joint venture (Korea Yakult) between Yoon Deok-byeong and Yakult Honsha established in November 27, 1969 under the name 한국야쿠르트유업주식회사.[4][5][6]

It is one of the largest food companies in South Korea and produces beverages (including sikhye and sujeonggwa) and dairy products (including yakult, a yogurt-like drink). The company created and started selling domestic Yakult in 1971 to negative reception in the early days, due to the lack of knowledge regarding Lactic Acid Bacteria. At the time, there was speculation about the product, due to popular belief that Lactic Acid was harmful to the body, with people saying stuff like “세균을 우리보고 먹으라는 것이냐” (Are you telling us to eat germs?) “균을 어떻게 돈 주고 사 먹느냐” (How are you seriously paying money to consume germs?) “병균을 팔아 먹는다” (Selling germs for consumption).[7] Despite this, Yoon carried out with the sales, starting with a aggressive marketing campaign, including a "free tasting campaign" for the public. Others included a door-to-door sales campaign by hiring housewives (who came to be known as Yakult Lady/auntie [야쿠르트 아줌마], who are now officially called "Fresh Manager" [프레시 매니저]), who knew the local neighborhood and knew the locals, who knew them as well. This marketing campaign resulted in a major success, with sales increasing to a million bottles sold per day by 1977.

In 1976, the company has founded the 한국야쿠르트 중앙연구소, a research institute that is notable for researching and inventing the Bifidobacterium HY8001 probiotics/lactobacillus, resulting in South Korea depending much less on imports from the United States, Europe, Japan, and multiple countries for lactic acid products. The research institue also has established a library of over 4,000 types of bifidobacterium strains, with 139 patent registrations and 56 patented strains, and also developed 22 lactobacilli for product application since its founding. It is also the birthplace of multiple products that sold by Korea Yakult/hy, which includes: 에이스, 슈퍼 100 프리미엄, 슈퍼 100 프리미엄, 헛개나무 쿠퍼스, 세븐, and 얼려먹는 야쿠르트..[8][9][10][11][12]

In 1987 the company began distributing its products overseas, under the brand name PALDO. In 2012, Paldo Co. Ltd. was launched as an independent subsidiary of Korea Yakult.[13]

In 2019, Korea Yakult changed the name of the Yakult Lady(Korean: 야쿠르트 아줌마), which is a symbol of the company, to 'Fresh Manager'(Korean: 프레시 매니저) to mark the 50th anniversary of its foundation. It is a combination of "fresh," which means freshness, and "manager," which manages health.[14]

In 2021 March 29, Korea Yakult has declared that they are renaming their business into (주)hy, due to their interest in expanding their portfolio in the distribution sector after a shareholder meeting the day before. This has resulted in the main company Korea Yakult being renamed to hy.[15]