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0Erinome: Hello everyone! Welcome to our podcast. Today, Enceladus and I are going to talk about a news that might make many people feel a little sad—Yakult is closing its first factory in China.
Enceladus: Oh right! I saw that news too. The Guangzhou No.1 Factory will close on November 30th. Wow, that factory has a long history, right?
Erinome: Yes! It started production in 2002. That was when Yakult first came to China, using the name "Yiliduo" in Guangdong. I remember drinking it as a kid. Sad, it’s like a part of childhood is leaving.
Enceladus: And this isn’t the first time. Last December, they closed the Shanghai Factory too. Two factories in less than a year. That’s a lot.
Erinome: Why are they closing factories? Is business really bad?
Enceladus: The sales dropped a lot. In Guangzhou area, their daily sales were 2.82 million bottles in 2021, but now? Only 1.49 million bottles a day. Oh no, that’s almost half!
Erinome: Half? That’s a big drop. What caused this?
Enceladus: The company said "old equipment" and "optimizing resources", but the real reason is low sales. You know, now there are many local brands competing. Like Mengniu’s Youyi C and Yili’s Meiyitian.
Erinome: Oh right! Those Chinese brands are popular. They are cheaper, right?
Enceladus: Yes! Same size, but local brands cost half the price of Yakult. And they have less sugar. Look at Yakult’s ingredients—sugar is the second on the list. Now people are scared of sugar, you know? Health is important now.
Erinome: Totally! My friend always checks the sugar content before buying drinks. High sugar is a big problem for Yakult.
Enceladus: Also, there are so many drink choices now. New tea, energy drinks, plant-based drinks...乳酸菌 (ru suan jun) drinks aren’t the only option anymore.
Erinome: The whole乳酸菌 category is doing badly. Sales share is dropping a lot.
Enceladus: Did Yakult try to fix this? Like new products?
Erinome: They did! Low-sugar bottles (small blue bottle), peach flavor (small pink bottle), even 500 billion bacteria ones. But it didn’t help much.
Enceladus: Oh, and remember 2021? They said their probiotics could "prevent COVID". Then they got fined 450,000 yuan. That hurt people’s trust, I think.
Erinome: Yeah, that was a mistake. People didn’t believe them as much after that.
Enceladus: So after closing Guangzhou No.1 Factory, where will they make the drinks?
Erinome: They’ll move production to Guangzhou No.2 Factory and Foshan Factory. So two factories instead of three now.
Enceladus: Do you think Yakult will leave China?
Erinome: The company said no. They say China is a "core market". But they need to change, or people will forget them.
Enceladus: How? Maybe make more zero-sugar drinks? Or better bacteria strains?
Erinome: And sell online! Old ways like "Yakult ladies" (养乐多阿姨) going door to door—young people don’t buy that way now. We shop on community group buys or live streams.
Enceladus: Right! They need new sales channels. Young people are online, not just in supermarkets.
Erinome: It’s sad to see a childhood brand struggle. I used to drink it every day after school.
Enceladus: Me too. But maybe if they make better products, people will buy again. Let’s hope they learn and change.
Erinome: Okay, that’s all for today. Thanks for listening, everyone. Let’s talk again next time!
Enceladus: Bye!
