A Japanese company known for probiotic beverages will build a production facility in Bartow County, roughly 45 minutes northwest of downtown Atlanta.
Yakult, a company known for its fermented dairy drinks, announced Tuesday it plans to build a $305 million factory that will employ at least 90 workers, according to a news release. The beverage maker joins a wave of projects in the pipeline for Bartow and I-75′s northwest corridor, which has emerged as a prime spot for industrial companies looking for swaths of undeveloped land within Atlanta’s orbit.
“Northwest Georgia has seen incredible growth since I took office, creating more than 11,000 jobs for hardworking Georgians across the region,” Gov. Brian Kemp said in the release. “We’re proud to welcome Yakult as they further that success.”
Yakult’s roots date back to 1935 in Japan. The company formed a U.S. subsidiary in 1990 and opened a manufacturing facility in California in 2014. The Bartow factory will be Yakult’s second U.S. plant when it is expected to open in 2026.
The factory will be located at Highland 75 Corporate, a 783-acre industrial park that only has 50 acres left on the market. Yutaka Misumi, president and CEO of Yakult U.S.A., said the company expects the Bartow location to act as the main supplier for the eastern and central parts of the country.
A Georgia Department of Economic Development spokesperson said there were no discretionary incentives for this project.
Yakult joins an active Georgia beverage industry that counts among its members Coca-Cola, an Anheuser-Busch brewery in Bartow that employs more than 500 workers, and numerous craft breweries.
Japan is also one of Georgia’s foremost international investors and trading partners, with Japanese companies operating more than 460 facilities across the state, according to the state Department of Economic Development.
