SINGAPORE, Dec. 19, 2022 — Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE: INGR), a leading global provider of specialty ingredient solutions to the food and beverage manufacturing industry, is furthering its sustainability initiative in the Asia Pacific region. Under the 2030 All Life plan, which aims to bring together the potential of people, nature and technology to make all life better, the strategy allows Ingredion to further align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals while driving continuous innovation in our sustainability efforts.

Globally, the company is making rapid progress toward its key milestone of having 99 percent of all crops and 100 percent of the company’s Tier 1 crops (corn, tapioca, potato, stevia and pulses) to be sustainably sourced by 2025.

Regional initiatives

Ingredion’s latest investment in China, Shandong South production facility thrives on sustainable sourcing of non-GMO corn from local farmers. Shandong South uses advanced digital technologies and automation to produce corn-based native and modified starch products that maintain international quality standards and create winning textures for food and beverage manufacturers.

Furthermore, two recent product launches showcase how Ingredion’s innovation is helping to meet this goal:

• Next Generation Waxy Tapioca: Following 10 years of agricultural innovation, Ingredion unveiled a next generation waxy tapioca starch that addresses extreme food manufacturing requirements and supports sustainability trends. Ingredion leads the sustainability initiative through empowering local farmers, helping them develop environmentally sustainable practices that ensure the long-term production of next generation waxy tapioca. Our end-to-end process from crop to manufacturing are fully integrated in Thailand, mitigating shipping costs regionally and reducing the impact of transportation on the environment.
• Waxy Rice: Ingredion also sources almost 100% of its waxy rice through the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP)—the first initiative globally to offer an assurance scheme by partnering with 500,000 farmers and offering certified waxy rice that is used to make Ingredion’s functional native starches and flours. The SRP reduces water usage, improves the security of communities and alleviates poverty in the long run.

Additionally, research into stevia also highlights its potential for sustainable sugar reduction:

• Ingredion conducted a life cycle assessment to quantify potential environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of a stevia from cradle to grave. The proprietary study measured the environmental impacts of sweeteners derived from stevia leaves from their extraction and processing to their distribution to consumers, using environmental indicators which includes climate change, land use, water scarcity and cumulative energy demand. The findings show fermentation and bioconversion technologies have significantly improved the sustainability of Reb M—i.e. fermented Sugarcane Reb M production reduces negative climate change impact by 82% compared to sugar, while bioconversion shows a 50% reduction.

“Our customers need holistic, sustainable ingredient solutions to meet consumer and regulatory demands for greater transparency,” shared Rishan Pillay, vice president and general manager of ASEANI and ANZ, Ingredion. “Partnering with our farmers and sustainably sourcing our products in the region helps us not only to improve crop yield and quality, but also better manage the costs associated with supply chain, while giving our customers what they need with the right sustainability messaging.”

He added: “We are proud to be the first Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA)-certified sustainable tapioca producer in Thailand. To drive environmental and social impact in our agriculture supply chain, we use the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform’s (SAI Platform) Farm Sustainability Assessment, which benchmarks performance against 90 global standards to identify the greatest needs of growers in specific geographic regions.”

With this data, Ingredion’s local agricultural teams develop programs with growers to drive continuous improvements in their operations.

Global initiative

By the end of 2022, the environmental and human impact of 50 Ingredion strategic growth platform ingredients will be made available to the industry via HowGood, a SaaS data platform with the world's largest database on food and personal care product sustainability, to meet and surpass customer demands for sustainable ingredients. This partnership will deliver data transparency on Ingredion’s top products and new product innovations which, along with Ingredion’s goals of having 99 percent of its global supply of crops sustainably sourced by 2025, will provide customers with sustainable solutions that consumers prefer.

These new tools and products are the latest examples of Ingredion’s leadership in sustainably sourced ingredients. The holistic approach of transparent, third-party data sharing, new product innovations and market-specific sustainable agriculture practices deliver solutions today that will enable healthier people and a healthier planet in the future.

About Ingredion

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE: INGR) is a leading global ingredient solutions provider with customers in more than 120 countries and has annual net sales of nearly $7 billion. Headquartered outside of Chicago, the company turns grains, fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based materials into ingredient solutions for the food, beverage, animal nutrition, brewing and industrial markets. Ingredion has Idea Labs^® innovation centres around the world and more than 12,000 employees. It also co-creates new products with customers and successfully collaborates with the best people, nature-based ingredients and cutting-edge technology to create ingredient solutions. Visit apac.ingredion.com for more information and to read the latest company news.

About The Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP)

The Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) is a global multi-stakeholder alliance of over 90 institutional members, co‐convened by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and GIZ. Now established as an independent not-for-profit member association, SRP works with partners from across the stakeholder spectrum to transform the global rice sector by improving smallholder livelihoods, reducing the social, environmental and climate footprint of rice production, and by offering the global rice market an assured supply of sustainably produced rice.

About HowGood

HowGood is a SaaS data platform with the world's largest database on food and personal care product sustainability. With more than 33,000 ingredients, chemicals and materials assessed, HowGood helps leading brands, retailers and restaurants improve their environmental and social impact. Through in-depth, ingredient-level insights into factors like greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, labor risk, animal welfare and other key impacts, HowGood's data powers strategic decision-making for the sourcing, manufacturing, merchandising and marketing of sustainable products. To learn more about HowGood, please visit: https://howgood.com.