Kirin says Blackmores will expand from vitamins into health foods
Japan’s Kirin Holdings Company says it plans to expand Blackmores into food and drink-based immunity products after acquiring the local vitamins group for $1.9 billion.
Takeshi Minakata, president of Kirin’s health sciences division, said the company was working on plans to expand the Blackmores range into other products that would support immune health. Mr Minakata said the new range would “launch in multiple countries” from 2025, although he declined to provide details of the specific products under development.
Vitamins maker Blackmores de-listed from the ASX on August 11 after a $1.9 billion buyout by Japan’s Kirin. Kirin aims to expand the Blackmores brand into “food with functions” type immunity products.
Kirin lobbed a $95 per share bid for the company, securing the backing of its major investor Marcus Blackmore, in April. While Kirin is best known for producing beer, it has a growing health products business, which it is focused on expanding, given the shrinking demand for alcohol in Japan.
It is expected, however, for Blackmores to produce products similar to Yakult, a probiotic yoghurt drink designed to enhance gut health and the immune system produced by another Japanese firm, Yakult Honsha.
Mr Minakata outlined at an investor day in Japan on Wednesday that Kirin’s existing LC-Plasma – a lactic acid bacteria that Kirin already uses in about 28 different products, which it had developed over decades – was integral to its plans.
Kirin has its own brand called iMuse that consists of health drinks and health foods containing LC-Plasma.
Mr Minakata said the addition of the Blackmores business would help Kirin’s health sciences division reach 200 billion yen ($2.09 billion) in revenue and return to profitability in
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