The 16^th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) took place in Melbourne in December 2022. It was extremely exciting to have this prestigious event hosted here. More than 700 athletes from over 180 countries around the world were competed at this FINA event. Australia swimming team performed very well with the achievement of 6 gold, 9 silver and 5 bronze medals.

Yakult’s Presence at FINA

As one of FINA’s official sponsors, Yakult Australia is proud to have been part of this great event. From the 13^th to 18^th of December, we ran an interactive booth onsite. Fresh and delicious Yakult samples were offered to all FINA attendees from swimming athletes, coaches, media, event organisers and members of the audience. At our booth, several Instagram Augmented Reality (AR) filters were created which allows attendees to take photographs with Yakult Man and digestive system in the background. We also collected autographs of the swimmers who participated in the championships when they visited our booth.

Our popular mascots Yakult Man and Yakult Man Blue both joined in the fun. They walked around the vibrant market street to greet visitors. There were plenty of activities, food, music and entertainment to keep the action alive in and out of the pool. Hundreds of excited kids and adults came to say hello and take photographs with Yakult Man and Yakult Man Blue whilst all enjoying summers ultimate showdown the theme of this year’s Melbourne FINA event.

Watch what took place during the FINA week-long event, please check out our video here.

Introducing… The Yakult Man AR Filter!

Using Yakult Man’s new filter, share an Instagram Story showing us how you enjoy Yakult.

Include the hashtag #HowDoYouYakult and tag @yakult_australia in the Instagram story.

For more information please read below:

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. Information on how to enter and prizes form part of these Terms and Conditions. Participation in this promotion is deemed acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
2. The Promoter of this competition is Yakult Australia Pty Ltd (ABN: 97 055 486 443) of Locked Bag 1403 Dandenong South, Victoria, 3164 Australia. Telephone: (03) 9238 4700
3. This giveaway is a game of skill. The giveaway commences 11:00am AEDT 8/12/2022 and closes 23:59pm AEDT on 21/12/2022 (“Promotional Period”), however, the eligible entry period for each weekly prize will commence and conclude on the following dates and times:

4. All entries will be judged on 22/12/2022 with winners to be contacted on 23/12/2022 via Yakult Australia’s Instagram Direct Message.
5. Competition Rules:
6. To be eligible to enter, individuals must:
7. Share an Instagram Story using the “Hi Yakult Man” Instagram Filter.
8. Include the hashtag #howdoyouyakult and tag @yakult_australia in the Instagram Story

iii. Multiple entries permitted, but each entry must be different and each entrant can only win one prize

9. If a competition winner does not respond to their message notifying them that they are the confirmed winner by 23:59pm AEDT on 03/01/2023, they will forfeit their spot as a confirmed giveaway participant and the next eligible entrant will be selected.

*  The response date has been extended to the 3rd of January 2023 *

10. The competition is only open to Eligible Entrants. An “Eligible Entrant” is an individual who: (i) is a resident of Australia aged 18 years or older as at the time of entry; and (ii) is not an employee of the Promoter or any of its related corporations or any of their agencies associated with the giveaway; (iii) is not a spouse, defacto spouse, parent, child or sibling (whether full, half, step or by adoption) of such an employee.

Judging Criteria:

All Entries will be judged against the following set of criteria;

11. Creativity or response and alignment with the spirit of the competition.

12. This is a game of skill, chance plays no part in determining the winner. Each entry will be judged individually based on the creativity of the comment. The judges’ decision in relation to any aspect of the giveaway will be final and binding on every person who enters. No correspondence will be entered into. Entrants agree that they are fully responsible for the Content they submit. The Promoter shall not be liable in any way for such Content to the full extent permitted by law. Entrants warrant and agree that: (a) they will not submit any Content that is unlawful or fraudulent, or that the Promoter may deem in breach of any intellectual property, privacy, publicity or other rights, defamatory, obscene, derogatory, pornographic, sexually inappropriate, violent, abusive, harassing, threatening, objectionable with respect to race, religion, origin or gender, not suitable for children aged under 15, or otherwise unsuitable for publication; (b) they will obtain prior consent from any person or property that appears in their Content; (c) they will obtain full prior consent from any person who has jointly created or has any rights in the Content, to the uses and terms herein; (d) their Content shall not contain viruses or cause injury or harm to any person or entity; and (e) they will comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including without limitation, those governing copyright, content, defamation, privacy, publicity and the access or use of others’ computer or communication systems

13. The promotion consists of one announcement of the winners.

The winners will be announced on the below date:

The winners will be announced on 29/12/2022 via the Yakult Australia Instagram page (winner announcement post) and contacted via Yakult Australia’s Instagram Direct Message.

Prize Information:

14. Promotional Prize Pool is valued at $1,000 and includes:

• 10 Yakult Australia Merchandise Prize Packs with a RRP of $100 (each)
• There will be 5 prize winners from each week’s entries – 10 prize winners in total.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in our Yakult Trivia 2022 – How Much Do You Know About Yakult?

We hope that you have had some fun while learning a few interesting facts about Yakult and digestive health.

We are pleased to announce our grand prize winners this year who have completed the most entries in our trivia.

These are the winners below:

1st place: Peter N.

2nd place: Paul E. & Isaac S. & Scarlett S.

We’d like to hear from you!

To everyone who has participated in our trivia, please let us know if you have any feedback and if you’d like us to continue next year!

Contact us here.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the November Yakult Trivia – How Much Do You Know About Yakult?

These are the 10 winners below:

1. Shing Chit C.
2. Kit C.
3. Yence A.
4. Liwen Y.
5. Ann C.
6. Yueming W.
7. Deanna D.
8. Kelly T.
9. Demi S.
10. Peter N.

This marks the end of our Yakult Trivia 2022. For more information about the monthly Yakult Trivia, please refer to the blog post here – HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT YAKULT?

In the recent years, the environment has become an important topic all over the world. With an increasing awareness around its importance, many companies have incorporated positive changes in order to be more environmentally friendly. The main ways that we look after the environment are by saving electricity, saving water, composting and even changing the material of the grocery bags we use!

Another way to improve the environment is to look towards recycling. The benefits of recycling include lowering greenhouse gas emissions. This is because it requires more energy to produce new products compared to producing products from recycled material. Benefits of recycling also decreases the amount of waste in the limited spaced landfills which overtime can create liquid toxins poisonous to the lakes and rivers.

Globally, the Yakult company recognises the importance of recycling. This is embedded in their corporate slogan and environmental vision that states “In order for people to be healthy, everything around them must also be healthy.” This emphasises the importance of having clean water, air and the soil to live off.

The Yakult global team has three areas of corporate social responsibility (CSR) which include the environment, health and local communities. Each area relates to one or more of the 12 sustainable development goals (SDG’s). Through the 6 SDG’s related to the environment, Yakult is committed to:

• Realising a low carbon society by actively working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Using resources effectively by applying the 3R’s (reduce, reuse and recycle)
• Preserving biodiversity by reviewing our impact on the environment at each stage in our business activities.

The Yakult Group has set a goal to reduce its single use plastic by 30% by 2030 (compared to 2018). The following examples below state how we are working towards our goal:

1. The only factory for Yakult Europe is in Netherlands. This factory produces bottles for 13 countries in Europe including Italy, Denmark, Germany and more. In 2019, Yakult Europe changed its polypropylene packing to cardboard packaging. This action has decreased the use of plastic film by approximately 12,441 kilograms per year.

2. In 2020, Yakult Australia made the decision to remove the single use plastic straws in the Yakult Original 10 pack. Instead, changes were made to the size of the foil cap and adhesive used to make them easier to open. Yakult Australia also uses a soft scrunch-able plastic for the outer packaging that can be possible to recycle in the soft plastic recycling deposits found in many large supermarkets. At the Dandenong factory, we also get our plastic bottles picked up by companies who then recycle our bottles into other goods.

3. Yakult Japan has recycled the bottles to create other goods! In 2008 Yakult Japan created bottle openers and in 2014 the company created rulers that were distributed free of charge to people participating in tours and environmental events.

For our future, we are looking to change our packaging with the aim of becoming more environmentally friendly. Work is in progress, as Yakult aims to consider and investigate potential materials in cooperation with not only national and local governments but internationally as well.

So, watch this space!

References:

• https://www.yakult.co.jp/english/pdf/csr/csr2021_en_41-43.pdf
• https://www.acor.org.au/uploads/2/1/5/4/21549240/acor_australian_recycling_performance_analysis_2016.pdf
• https://www.yakult.co.jp/english/csr/environment/vision/
• https://www.packaginginsights.com/news/yakult-commissions-schubert-for-its-film-to-cardboard-secondary-packaging-transition.html
• https://www.yakult.co.jp/english/pdf/csr2015_en.pdf

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the October Yakult Trivia – How Much Do You Know About Yakult?

These are the 10 winners below:

1. Victoria C.
2. Bonnie N.
3. Airell M.
4. Olivia B.
5. Emily C.
6. Stephen C.
7. Dior P.
8. Dana P.
9. Yori Y.
10. Peter N.

Please come back to our website again for the November entry and a chance to win the prize below!

For more information about the monthly Yakult Trivia, please refer to the blog post here – HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT YAKULT?

What is Grandparent’s Day?

Grandparent’s day is a special day to celebrate the important role grandparents play in our lives. It is a day to show our appreciation for all they do for us and to let them know how much we love and cherish them.

Grandparents play a pivotal part in Australian society. As the average age of Australians continues to rise, this special day acknowledges and honours all grandparents for their unconditional love for their families and contributions to society.

Grandparent’s Day event

At the end of the September school holidays, Yakult ran a special Grandparent’s Day event at our facility in Dandenong South. In addition to a tour of our factory, we provided delicious Yakult milk slushies. All attendees including children and their families participated in a spinning wheel lucky draw competition to win a prize. Our mascot Yakult Man also joined us for photographs. Everyone had great fun on that day! Check out our video to enjoy a snapshot of our Grandparent’s Day event.

Grandparent’s Week at Yakult

Missed out on the Yakult Grandparent’s Day event? In the week leading up to the 30^th of October, all our popular Yakult factory tours will be in appreciation of grandparents, with exclusive Yakult Man Grandparent’s Day badges for all children attending. We hope you will join us in celebrating this special week! To secure a spot for you and your family, please make your reservation here.

If your grandparent doesn’t live close by, there are still plenty of ways to show your love and appreciation. You could send them a homemade card or picture, give them a call, or even just tell them how much you appreciate everything they’ve done for you. No matter how you choose to celebrate, Australian Grandparent’s Day is a special day to remember the wonderful people in our lives who have always been there for us.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the September Yakult Trivia – How Much Do You Know About Yakult?

These are the 10 winners below:

1. Samantha M.
2. Candice N.
3. Andrew C.
4. Michael M.
5. Catherine C.
6. Lewis H.
7. Paul E.
8. Sammy L.
9. Agus A.
10. Peter N.

Please come back to our website again for the October entry and a chance to win the prize below!

For more information about the monthly Yakult Trivia, please refer to the blog post here – HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT YAKULT?

As we grow older our body changes. Our body begins to focus on maintenance rather than growing. So, how do nutrients help with this?

Nutrients play a vital role in the development and maintenance of the body’s functions. It nourishes our body and gives us energy for everyday life activities. All nutrients are important for our body however there are specific ones to focus on as we age. This is because our body unable to retain or produce these nutrients the way it used to.

These include:

Vitamin D

As we age, our vitamin D production reduces. This may be due to:

• A decrease in provitamin D₃ which is found in the outermost layer of our skin and ultimately leads to the conversion of vitamin D.
• A decreased response in the skin from the UV light from the sun.
• Spending less time outdoors compared to when we were younger.

Calcium:

As we live longer, our balance and stability weaken therefore, we are more likely to fall and increase risk of fractures. Regular calcium intake will maintain our bone structure and reduce the risk of fractures and Osteoporosis. The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) suggest teenagers should aim for 1300mg of calcium intake per day. However, as we age the recommended daily intake lowers to 1000mg per day as our body prioritises maintenance. Excellent food sources for calcium intake include dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and cheese. Vegan options include soy milk, chia seeds and almonds.

We know that Calcium and Vitamin D is important for maintaining our bone health but what about our digestive system?

Calcium and Vitamin D in the digestive system:

To maintain balance in our digestive system, it is important to maintain consistent Calcium and Vitamin D intake.

Calcium has been shown to regulate the fluid transportation in the colon. The colon is vital for fluid absorption and moving feces to the rectum.

Did you know that the colon is also known as the large intestine?

Vitamin D has been shown to improve the intestinal microbiota and restore the good bacteria in our intestines. It can also reduce gastrointestinal inflammation. Studies showed that participants with higher Vitamin D levels had a lower risk of inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease.

How else can we better our gut microbiome?

1. Exercise

• Regular exercise has been shown to increase the beneficial bacteria in our intestines that play a role in the production of short chain fatty acids (SCFA). These SCFA’s decrease the risk factors of inflammatory diseases such as obesity and diabetes.

2. Sleep

• Lack of sleep can affect the diversity and composition of good bacteria in our intestines
• The lack of sleep also cause stress which create negative changes in our intestinal microbiome. We may experience bloating, inflammation and increased food sensitivities.

3. Probiotics

Yakult!

Yakult is a fermented milk drink filled with live beneficial bacteria known as Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain (LcS).

With over 80 years of research to show, Yakult can survive to reach the intestines alive where it positively alters the bacteria in the gut, to improve stool consistency keeping us feeling good from the inside out!

Curious to know what Yakult tastes like? Press the link below to find out!

https://www.yakult.com.au/news/flavour-of-yakult/