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Ingredion Incorporated, a leading global provider of specialty ingredient solutions to the F&B manufacturing industry, is furthering its sustainability initiative in Asia Pacific. 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 align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals while driving continuous innovation in its sustainability efforts.
Globally, the company is progressing toward its key milestone of having 99% of all crops and 100% 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.
Two recent product launches also 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. The 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 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.
