The famous Bulgarian yoghurt will soon reach 2 billion consumers worldwide, Vasil Zografov who is the CEO of LB Bulgaricum dairy company assured RB. The state-owned company has the exclusive right to produce the original yeast of this dairy product. The Bulgarian yoghurt is mainly spread across Asia where it has long ago been recognized and appreciated. The Bulgarian elixir is part of the morning breakfast for 40 million Japanese people. The product is now entering the enormous Chinese market and ten other countries from the Southeast Asia.       

This will happen to the assistance of the Japanese company Meiji Dairies Corporation which holds the license for the manufacture of Bulgarian yoghurt in Japan since the 1970’s. The company uses the original probiotic bacteria of the L B Bulgaricum.

“We had very intensive talks for one whole year on the signing of an annex to the existing license agreement with Japan, MR Zografov shared with RB. On April 30, 2013, we signed an agreement with the Japanese company Meiji to enter new markets. The potential customers of the Bulgarian yoghurt are expected to reach at least 2 billion people.”

© Photo: BGNES

Let us remind you why the Bulgarian yoghurt is so popular worldwide. The secret was revealed by the Bulgarian Professor Stamen Grigirov in the beginning of the 20th century. He found out that the specific healthy qualities are due to two bacteria- a rod-like bacteria and a ball-shaped one. The rod-like bacteria has been bearing the name lactobacillus bulgaricum since then. Later, the Nobel Prize laureate Professor Ilya Mechnikov who worked at the Louis Pasteur French Institute gave proof of the link between the consumption of this yoghurt and long life.

The Bulgarian yoghurt is the only one made of live yeast agents or in other words with live microorganisms, explains the CEO of LB Bulgaricum Mr Zografov and adds: “Our yeast is unique with the fact that both bacteria are in a symbiotic strong link. When the bacteria enter the human intestines through the yoghurt, it kills all harmful microorganisms there. Later the human body gets rid of these elements, purifies and improves its immunity.”

It is worth mentioning that the word yoghurt is not used in the Bulgarian language and this product is called Kiselo Mlyako in this country. Due to the live agents this yoghurt ferments quickly and gets a sour taste. This product is as healthy as perishable. All other yoghurts worldwide are made with non-living yeast which makes them durable and less healthy.

LB Bulgaricum exports 95% of the original yeast used for the manufacture of Bulgarian yoghurt. “Nowadays the world consumes more Bulgarian yoghurt than the Bulgarians themselves, commented MR Zografov.” Why is that? The real Bulgarian yoghurt is made of fresh rather than dried milk and of live microorganisms which make it less durable. This is why it is much more expensive than the regular yoghurts on the world market. However, the purchasing power of the Bulgarians is very weak. That is why the production of original Bulgarian yoghurt in Bulgaria holds only 15% of the total market share. However, this is only partly true, because most of the Bulgarians living in the rural regions and the small towns continue to make their own yogurt at home to the traditional old recipe. In other words, the industrial production of real yoghurt has gone down sharply, but the consumption has not decreased as the Bulgarians return to the making of real homemade yoghurt. 

English version: Kostadin Atanasov