Our History

Experienced in the Chinese dairy market, and realising the benefits of this growing market and it’s potential, Prochin Shanghai was founded in 1996 by Jan Willem Ypma and Jordan Yang.

As a locally-focused dairy trading and marketing company, Prochin was one of the first foreign enterprises’ to set up in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. Realising the market potential and scale, Prochin Shanghai dedicated itself to globally sourced milk powder and infant formula ingredients for the Chinese market.

Pacific Dairy Ingredients established in 2000 to become a leading importer and marketer of dairy ingredients.

With the growing dairy market in China, Pacific Dairy Ingredients became the global provider of quality dairy ingredients, offering logistics and marketing services.

Following renewed growth strategies, Prochin Shanghai and Hoogwegt Group aligned objectives, which resulted in the Hoogwegt Group acquiring Pacific Dairy Ingredients.

The acquisition followed by a four-year management cooperation and a three-year non-competition contract in the dairy trading market. It would take another four years before the founders of Prochin Shanghai would return to their core business of sourcing and distributing nutritious ingredients and marketing dairy products.

With the non-competition contract in place, the founders reshaped their portfolio with a strategy to enter the Omega-3 fatty acid market in China.

Having the experience in the dairy market, the growing demand for omega-3 oils as an often-used ingredient, motivated the expansion.

With this, the establishment of Novosana as an EPA/DHA Omega-3 oil trading company and future production facility was a fact.

The nutrition market is one of the fastest developing sectors in China. In 2010, Prochin Shanghai returned to its core business as a sourcing, distributing and trading company, specialised in (specialty) dairy ingredients.

Through secure promotion by the government, the Chinese dairy industry became a high-growth market. Consumers incorporated dairy a significant source of calcium and protein, into their daily diet.

In the backdrop of the global economic slowdown, China’s nutritional food products and ingredients markets showed moderate growth. The dairy market remained one of the more substantial sectors for growth, in particular the liquid milk market.

In reaction to this market trend, one of Europe’s largest UHT milk brands looked to enter the Chinese market. Prochin Shanghai became the exclusive distribution partner for their UHT milk (and related products) in China. Prochin Shanghai successfully played into the market demands and engaged in a fruitful cooperation.

Through Prochin Shanghai, the Alliance Nutrition Group signed a cooperation agreement to develop the Lutemax 2020 market in China exclusively.

Lutemax 2020 is a natural functional ingredient. The cooperation agreement with OmniActive Health Technologies is a strategic distribution agreement is to promote the Lutemax 2020 exclusively, which will give full range to the advantages for both sides and provide better health solutions and nutritional ingredients for Chinese consumers.

NattoPharma is dedicated to delivering premium products proven beneficial for human health through extensive clinical study.

In 2018 Prochin became Nattopharma’s Chinese distribution partner. This commitment has created patented intellectual properties that provide companies with unprecedented opportunities to revolutionize their markets.

With welcoming NattoPharma, Prochin has expanded its list of speciality dairy ingredients with MenaQ7 – Vitamin K2 and MK-7. Prochin hosted the launch event for the introduction of the exclusive MenaQ7® product to 150 invited distributors.

Strengthening the synergies between the existing business capabilities became the focus in 2016. Aiming at further building our portfolio, Prochin and Novosana joined forces under the newly established Alliance Nutrition Group.

The Alliance Nutrition Group is the foundation for our future growth. We can better react to the increased demand for healthy and nutritional food ingredients and products. Particularly in the high-growth, value-adding nutrition and food markets, both globally and in China. We do this by leveraging our market know-how and global network. We expand our sound supply chain management to a broader scope and market position.