South Korea's hy, formerly known as Korea Yakult and a leader in dairy products, said on Monday that it started exporting its fermented milk product for digestive health "Helicobacter Project Will" to China.
The company plans to supply Will products, manufactured at its Cheonan plant, through local distributors in China equipped with cold chain facilities.
Initially, hy will focus on expanding its distribution through Chinese e-commerce platforms like JD.com and Douyin Mall, with plans to extend into offline retail stores.
For its marketing efforts in China, hy has appointed actor Lee Min-ho and (G)I-dle girl group member Yuqi as brand ambassadors.
In addition to its Chinese expansion, hy is advancing into the US market, aiming to stock Will products at H Mart, the largest Asian supermarket chain in America.
Recently, hy signed a production agreement with Thailand's dairy company Dutch Mill, and is preparing for sales in Thailand and Southeast Asia.
Domestically, Will products sell an average of 720,000 units daily, generating annual sales of 330 billion won ($247 million). As of last year, cumulative sales surpassed 6 trillion won ($4.49 billion).
Write to Hun-Hyoung Ha at
hhh@hankyung.com
