Corporate brand
Unclaimedhy is a South Korean food and beverage company founded as a joint venture associated with Yakult Honsha and known for fermented dairy drinks, beverages, probiotics, and neighborhood-based delivery.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
hy, formerly known as Korea Yakult, is a South Korean food and beverage company headquartered in Seoul's Seocho District. The company was established on 27 November 1969 as a Korean joint venture involving South Korean entrepreneur Yoon Deok-byeong and Japan's Yakult Honsha. Its original business was built around introducing Yakult-style fermented dairy drinks to the South Korean market, where consumers had limited familiarity with lactic-acid bacteria and probiotic beverages. The company's early commercial history was shaped by direct consumer education and highly localized distribution. When domestic Yakult went on sale in 1971, initial reception was weak and some consumers were concerned that lactic acid might be harmful. Rather than abandon the product, the company used public tastings and neighborhood door-to-door selling to explain the beverage and encourage trial. It recruited local housewives as sales representatives, who became widely recognized as the company's "Yakult Ladies." This network linked the brand to residential neighborhoods and helped create a daily delivery habit. By 1977, sales had reportedly reached one million bottles per day. Research became another important part of the company's development. In 1976, Korea Yakult established the Korea Yakult Research Institute. The institute worked on the cultivation and application of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, including the HY8001 strain, and supported the development of products adapted to the Korean market. The company describes the institute as maintaining a large collection of bifidobacterium strains and as having generated patents and product applications in the probiotic field. This research capability helped reduce reliance on imported lactic-acid cultures and gave the business a stronger technical identity beyond simple distribution of a Japanese-origin product concept. The company subsequently broadened its food and beverage portfolio. In addition to Yakult-style drinks and other dairy products, it became associated with Korean traditional beverages such as sikhye and sujeonggwa, as well as other packaged foods and beverages. From 1987, products were distributed overseas under the Paldo brand. Paldo was later separated from Korea Yakult as an independent subsidiary in 2012, distinguishing the export and broader food businesses from the core Korea Yakult operation. The field-sales network remained a central symbol of the company. In 2019, during the company's fiftieth-anniversary period, the traditional designation "Yakult Lady" was changed to "Fresh Manager." The new name reflected an effort to modernize the role and describe a broader service covering fresh-food delivery and neighborhood distribution rather than only the sale of one fermented drink. On 29 March 2021, following a shareholder meeting, Korea Yakult announced that it would change its business name to hy. The rebranding was connected to an interest in expanding beyond its historic fermented-dairy identity and developing a wider distribution business. The hy name therefore represents a transition from a product-centered Korea Yakult identity toward a broader food, beverage, probiotic, and last-mile distribution platform. The company remains active in South Korea, although publicly available reference material does not establish a current parent company, listed status, ticker, or detailed international market structure.
History
The company that is now hy was established on 27 November 1969 under the Korean name Korea Yakult, Inc. It was created as a Korean joint venture involving Yoon Deok-byeong and Yakult Honsha, the Japanese company associated with the Yakult brand. The venture sought to develop a domestic market for fermented milk beverages and lactic-acid products. Domestic Yakult sales began in 1971. The product initially faced skepticism because many South Korean consumers were unfamiliar with lactic-acid bacteria, and some believed that lactic acid could be harmful. The company responded with an unusually hands-on form of market development. It organized free public tastings and recruited housewives to sell and explain the drink door to door. These representatives understood local neighborhoods and built relationships with households, creating a distribution system that was both commercial and educational. They became popularly known as Yakult Ladies. The approach helped turn a novel product into a routine household purchase, and the company reported daily sales of one million bottles by 1977. Scientific research was formalized in 1976 with the establishment of the Korea Yakult Research Institute. The institute studied bifidobacteria and lactobacilli and developed strains and applications for the company's products, including the HY8001 probiotic strain. Its work helped build domestic technical capacity in a field that had previously depended more heavily on imported cultures and products. The institute is associated with a collection of bifidobacterium strains, patent registrations, patented strains, and the development of lactobacilli for commercial applications. The company expanded its product and distribution activities over time. Its portfolio came to include fermented dairy products, probiotic drinks, Korean traditional beverages such as sikhye and sujeonggwa, and other packaged food and beverage products. In 1987, the company began overseas distribution under the Paldo brand. Paldo later became an independent subsidiary in 2012, separating that business from the continuing Korea Yakult company. The neighborhood delivery model remained important even as the product range changed. In 2019, the company updated the public name of its field representatives from Yakult Lady to Fresh Manager. The change acknowledged that the representatives were increasingly associated with a wider fresh-food and delivery service rather than a single beverage. In March 2021, Korea Yakult announced that it would adopt the name hy. The renaming followed a shareholder meeting and was linked to the company's interest in developing a wider distribution portfolio. The change marked a strategic and visual departure from an identity centered on Yakult, while retaining the company's accumulated capabilities in fermented foods, probiotics, consumer education, and direct neighborhood delivery. hy is therefore best understood as the current corporate brand of a long-running South Korean food company, rather than as a new standalone product brand.
- 2021
The corporate name changes to hy
[1]Korea Yakult announces the adoption of the hy name as part of an expansion toward distribution and a broader food portfolio.
- 2019
Yakult Ladies are renamed Fresh Managers
[1]The company updates the name of its neighborhood sales and delivery representatives during its fiftieth-anniversary period.
- 2012
Paldo becomes an independent subsidiary
[1]Paldo Co. Ltd. is launched as an independent subsidiary of Korea Yakult.
- 1987
Overseas distribution begins under Paldo
[1]The company begins distributing products overseas using the Paldo brand.
- 1977
Daily sales reach one million bottles
[1]The company's consumer-education and door-to-door distribution model helps reported daily sales reach one million bottles.
- 1976
Korea Yakult Research Institute is founded
[1]The company creates a research institute focused on bifidobacteria, lactobacilli, probiotics, and applications for commercial products.
- 1971
Domestic Yakult sales begin
[1]The company begins selling a domestic Yakult-style fermented milk drink in South Korea.
- 1969
Korea Yakult is established
[1]A Korean joint venture involving Yoon Deok-byeong and Yakult Honsha is established on 27 November under the name Korea Yakult, Inc.
Products and positioning
A South Korean food and beverage company combining probiotic and fermented-dairy expertise with locally embedded, direct-to-consumer distribution. Its historic differentiation comes from consumer education, neighborhood delivery, and research-led development of lactic-acid products, while the hy rebrand positions the business more broadly in food distribution and fresh commerce.
Fermented dairy beverage · 1971
Yakult-style fermented milk drink
The company's original signature product category, introduced to South Korean consumers in 1971. The drink was marketed as a source of lactic-acid bacteria and became the foundation for the company's consumer education, household delivery, and neighborhood sales model.
Functional food and beverage
Probiotic and lactobacillus products
A broad group of products supported by the company's research activities in bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. The Korea Yakult Research Institute developed strains and commercial applications, including products associated with the HY8001 probiotic strain.
Traditional Korean beverage
Sikhye and sujeonggwa
Packaged versions of traditional Korean beverages that illustrate the company's expansion beyond fermented dairy. Sikhye is a sweet rice beverage, while sujeonggwa is a cinnamon-and-ginger-based drink.
Food distribution and delivery
Fresh-food delivery service
A neighborhood-oriented distribution service delivered through the company's Fresh Manager network. The service extends the historic direct-selling model into a broader range of fresh and packaged food products.
Marketing campaigns
- 1971Public free-tasting campaign
South Korea
The company offered free tastings to introduce Yakult-style fermented milk to consumers who were unfamiliar with lactic-acid bacteria and uncertain about the product's benefits.
Outcome. The campaign formed part of a wider education and sampling effort that helped establish the product in South Korea; reported daily sales reached one million bottles by 1977.
- 1971Door-to-door Yakult Lady sales campaign
South Korea
Korea Yakult recruited local housewives to sell and explain the drink directly in residential neighborhoods. The representatives used their local knowledge to build repeat household purchasing.
Outcome. The model became one of the company's defining distribution assets and later evolved into the Fresh Manager network.
Brand decisions
2021
Rebranding from Korea Yakult to hyStrategyBackground
The company concluded that the Korea Yakult name was closely associated with its historic fermented-dairy business, while it wanted to expand its food and distribution activities.
Action taken
Following a shareholder meeting, the business announced that it would adopt the name hy, Ltd., using the new identity to represent a broader distribution-oriented portfolio.
Aftermath
The rebrand marked a shift from a single-product and legacy joint-venture identity toward a wider corporate platform encompassing food, beverages, probiotics, and fresh delivery.
Recent events
- Unconfirmed
Reported
HY and Huawei won a medical AI contest award in Russia[2]
HY and Huawei won the “best assistant to doctors” award in a Russian contest for diagnostic radiology AI; the article reports that their solution reached the final with a 96 percent accuracy rate.
Reported
HYAS appoints David Ratner as CEO[3]
HYAS announced the appointment of David Ratner, Ph.D., as its CEO.
Sources3 sources
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