Yakult reviews £5m creative business

by James Hamilton, Campaign 29-Apr-05, 15:21

Yakult, the probiotic drink manufacturer, is set to review its £5 million UK creative account, held by cdp-travissully.

The UK arm of the Japanese-owned company has approached several unnamed UK agencies to hold preliminary chemistry meetings with a view to moving the business, run by cdp-travissully since Yakult's UK launch in 1996.

The review comes as the lucrative UK probiotic market becomes more crowded, with similar offerings from Muller, Danone, Nestle and the Swedish dairy company Skane competing against the market-leading Yakult.

According to Mintel, the market is growing at 47 per cent per year, with the overall market for functional foods and beverages valued at close to £1 billion annually.

Groupe Danone owns a 20 per cent share in Yakult Honsha. Earlier this month, the two companies entered into a strategic alliance to strengthen their global leadership in probiotics.