First-ever Yakult cafe opens in Japan, offering ice cream, pastries and even facials

Yakult lovers rejoice! A cafe featuring treats and treatments made with the popular probiotic beverage has opened in the town of Utsunomiya in Japan.

The Yakult Gohonmaru Cafe & Gallery also features a beauty salon and gallery and was opened in September by Utsunomiya Yakult Group, which distributes the beverage in the Tochigi prefecture north of Tokyo.

According to Japanese news outlet The Mainichi, visitors to the cafe on the first floor can dig into Yakult ice cream, chiffon cakes or tiramisu with Yakult cream.

A beauty salon above the cafe will offer facials using cosmetics made with lactic acid bacteria. The cosmetics are also sold at the salon.

Dubbed as a wellness centre, the premises were built to introduce Yakult products to new customers and features a daycare centre for employees of Yakult.

There is also a gallery that can be rented for conferences and the space is also used to host events such as wellness lessons for local residents, according to the company.

Mainichi reported that Utsunomiya Yakult president Keizo Shibata said: "We hope that people who don't know about Yakult come visit and see themselves in various ways enjoying Yakult products, including meals and beauty services."

The drink, which claims to support a healthy digestive system, is popular throughout Japan and Asia, where it is sold door-to-door and at convenience shops and supermarkets, as well as in Latin America.

The company has plans to open a second branch.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.