INGREDION INCORPORATED

INGREDION INCORPORATED Overview

Company Headquarters: Illinois, United States

Founded: 1906

Workforce: ~ 12,000

Company Working: Ingredion Incorporated offers ingredient solutions that transforms corn, tapioca, potatoes, plant-based stevia, grains, fruits, gums, and vegetables into enriched ingredients and biomaterials for food & beverages, brewing, and various other industries. The company develops, produces, and sells numerous food & beverage ingredients, basically starch and sweeteners for a wide range of industries. The company has a presence across North America, South America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The company’s product portfolio line includes starch and sweeteners, animal feed products, and edible corn oil. Moreover, starch products include both food-grade and industrial starch, as well as biomaterials, and sweeteners products, including dextrose, glucose syrup, high maltose syrups, fructose corn syrup, caramel color, polyols, maltodextrins, and solids of glucose and syrups. The sweetener products represent 33%, 35%, and 36% of net sales in 2021,2020, and 2019. Sweetener products are widely used in food & beverage products, such as baked products, snack food, canned fruits, condiments, candy and other sweets, dairy products, ice cream, jams, and jellies, and many others.

Company offers wide variety of maltodextrin that are offered in powder form from the sources like rice, corn, wheat, potato, and other sources and used as a food ingredient for thickener or fillers to increase the volume of a processed food. The company is also offering wide range of products for maltodextrin like farmal, globe, royal, and novation with different categories of products. Moreover, North America includes 22 manufacturing facilities that develops broad range of starches, sweeteners, gum, acacia, peas, and fruits & vegetable concentrates, South America has around 7 manufacturing facilities that develops maltodextrins, fructose, maltose syrup, and various other products, Asia-Pacific develops the corn-based products in South Korea, China, and Thailand, and last but not least, EMEA region has six manufacturing facilities that produces starch, glucose, and dextrose.

Strategy

Ingredion Incorporated is focused on continuous new product development. The company had more than 1,800 patents and patents pending as of 2021, covering a range of goods and procedures. Over the last three years, the company has achieved a double-digit growth rate in the specialty ingredient segment, specifically because of the increasing demand for natural ingredients worldwide. The firm utilizes consumer insights, sensory capabilities, proprietary research, and teams of scientists to provide novel ingredient solutions that complement today's lifestyles. The company also focuses on increasing its research & development investments for the introduction of new ingredient solutions. For Instance, the business enters into a new partnership with Amyris, a biotechnology firm, to create and commercialize "perfectly sweet trifecta," a Reb M sweetener made sustainably through fermentation. They started the Cost Smart initiative to become more cost competitive. The initiative has surpassed its initial $125 million objective by saving a total of $170 million during the course of the program. They intend to educate producers and execute integrated pest control in 70% of agricultural supply by the end of 2027, up from 57% now. It is also looking forward to mergers and acquisitions for further geographical expansion.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Well-established distribution network
Broad portfolio of apple-related products
Strong brand image Investment of USD 46 million in R&D in 2018
The company has strong manufacturing capabilities which enable the effectively handle the demand supply fluctuations.
The company has a strong footprint across the globe
The ingredients offered by the company aid various sectors
Diversified product portfolio
Diverse product portfolio
Strong research and development
Global presence
Global manufacturing facilities and sales offices in more than forty countries
Strong cash flow of the company
Increasing annual profit every consecutive year
The company assist various industries by offering its ingredients, industries includes food & beverages, papers, and other sectors.
The business has a strong reach across the world and covers more than 120 nations.
Diversified product portfolio.
The company has a global network of production units, ingredient development centers, and sales offices with a strong workforce, and also has a strong balance sheet with good cash flow
The company is one of the major providers of various ingredients for a range of applications in food, beverages, brewing, pharmaceuticals, and different industrial customers globally
Strategic Joint Ventures to strengthen its position in developing markets
Established better operational excellence that helps in achieving cost competitiveness among peers
Diversified and strong product portfolio
The company has a global network of production units, ingredient development centers, and sales offices with a strong workforce, and has a strong balance sheet with good cash flow
sheet with good cash flow The company is one of the major providers of various ingredients for a range of applications in food, beverages, brewing, pharmaceuticals, and different industrial customers globally
Diversified and strong product portfolio.

Weaknesses

Debt of USD 2,100 million in 2018
Increasing trade receivables
Dependence on selected customer could affect the company’s business, if the financial condition of any of its major customers weakens.
Shifting consumption preferences for high fructose corn syrup among the consumers
The falling demand for synthetic products and ingredients such as colors, anti-oxidants, flavor enhancers, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives
Growing Demand For Sustainable And Bio-based Products
Limited presence in emerging markets
Changing consumption preferences of high-intensity sweeteners
Reduced demand for chemical-added products
Limited success out of the core business
Unique selling proposition is not clearly defined
No recent product launches related to the market.
Price fluctuation of raw materials and high energy consumption are negatively affecting the production cost of the company.
The gaps between the production of goods and the selling of the products by the company are one of the major weaknesses, the lack of choices in the offerings can provide a foothold for the competitor
The company is not very effective at incorporating firms with the dissimilar work culture
Weak financial position attributed to the decreasing net profit over the years
Heavy dependency on its business from North America region, constituting 60% of its total revenue
Heavy dependency on its business from North America region, constituting 62% of its total revenue.

Opportunities

Expansion in untapped markets such as Asia-Pacificand the Middle East & Africa
The company forged new strategic initiatives in the past few years including investment, expansion, and others which could help augmented its growth.
Moving focus on global collaboration to improve the overall effectiveness and efficiency
The company can also diversify its business by introducing more and more functional ingredients
Expansion in emerging markets
Innovation in sustainable materials
Rising opportunities through e-commerce
Stability in cash flow gives opportunity invest in the technology development
Putting more emphasis on international Collaboration to increase effectiveness and efficiency in overall.
The corporation can also expand its operations by adopting more and more useful ingredients
The green drive approach enabled by the Governments can create a growth prospect for the procurement of products offered by the company by the federal as well as state government contractors
The shift of consumers preferences associated with new trends can open up new avenues for the company to create new strategies for diversification into new categories of product
Product innovation and adding clean label glucose ingredients in the product portfolio
Strengthening its position further in Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa region.
The shift of consumers preferences associated with new trends can open new avenues for the company to create new strategies for diversification into new categories of product
Putting more emphasis on international Collaboration to increase effectiveness and efficiency in overall

Threats

Modification or termination of trade agreement
The company operates in a highly competitive starch and sweetnermarket which affect the company’s performance in the long run due to the high number of competitors.
Markets within which the company operates are highly competitive
The company is constantly at risk of losing its present customer base owing to the increasing focus on new entrants in the global market
Economic uncertainty
Intense competition
Regulatory challenges
The demand of the highly profitable products is seasonal in nature
New environmental regulations under Paris agreement can affect the profitability
Cargill, Tate & Lyle, and many others are among the rivals in the markets under which the company operates.
As the company is more focused towards new entrants, because of which the company is losing its existing customer base in the global market.
The increasing ability of local distributors also creates a major threat in a few of the markets as the rivalry is paying developed margins to the local suppliers
The intense competition from substitutes is also one of the major threats to the company
Fluctuating corn prices over the years and expected increase in global demand may further increase the price.
As the company is more focused towards new entrants, because of which the company is losing its existing customer base in the global market

Key Developments

Date	Approach	Development
Jan-2022	Investment	Ingredion Incorporated has invested $160 million in capital projects to considerably increase the supply chain's capacity for a variety of modified and clean label specialty starches.
September-2021	Agreement	A new strategic distribution contract was signed between Ingredion Incorporated and Batory Foods, according to the announcement. The agreement, unifies Ingredion's distribution network in the West and Central Midwest of the United States to assist food and beverage businesses in obtaining the ingredients they require to develop and promote their goods.
September-2021	Expansion	The expansion of Ingredion Incorporated's production facilities in Vanscoy, Saskatchewan, was announced.
June 2022	Launch	Ingredion Inc launches a new ad campaign in EMEA to create awareness regarding the product portfolio of texturizers and sweeteners to fulfill the surging demand of consumers for improved Nutri-Score and reduced-sugar products.
September 2021	Expansion	Ingredion Incorporated expanded its North American facility to support plant-based protein development. This facility further helps the company to increase overall production.
May 2021	Partnership	Amyris, Inc. announced the agreement with the US-based firm Ingredion Inc. to produce various fermentation-based and sugar-reduction ingredients.
November 2020	Acquisition	Ingredion Incorporated has acquired Verdient Foods Inc. with James Cameron and Suzy Amis Cameron. This acquisition further expands the company’s manufacturing capability and co-creates with customers to serve the increasing consumer demand for plant-based foods.
July 2020	Acquisition	Ingredion completed the acquisition of PureCircle- the world’s key innovator, and producer of plant-based flavors and stevia sweeteners for the food and beverage industry.
June 2022	Investment	Ingredion Corporation stated that one-third of its 160 USD million capital investment to considerably expand capacity for a variety of modified and clean label specialty starches across its worldwide supply chain has been completed.
July 2019	Expansion	Ingredion expands clean label functionality to instant hot food and 3-in-1 drinks. Expanding clean label functionality in the beverage category to include instant applications, NOVATION Indulge 3620 starch can be used to build back texture in products that have reduced or removed ingredients such as hydrogenated palm fat, sugar, or maltodextrins.
April 2020	Launch	Ingredion EMEA introduced its first polyol sweetener under the brand name- ERYSTA Erythritol. This launch enabled the manufacturers of food and beverages to replace or reduce sugar to fulfil the claims associated with nutrition and health claims, including reduced calorie and no added sugar, in ranges applications.
February 2021	Joint Venture	The company has entered into a strategic partnership with Grupo Arcor, Argentina-based food & agribusiness company to scale up its manufacturing capabilities and innovate new ingredients including glucose solutions in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Ingredion owns a 49% stake in the JV and is expected to witness the manufacturing capabilities of Arcor in the province of Tucuman and the province of Cordoba as part of the JV.
November 2020	Product Launch	Ingredion launched a low-sugar glucose syrup under the brand STABLESWEET brand in the Middle East and Africa. It has a DE level of 32 resembling the 30% of sweetness as that of sucrose and 70% sweetness of glucose syrup. The low glucose syrup is derived from corn that has low monosaccharide & disaccharide content and is launched with an aim to capitalize on the increasing demand for sugar-reduced products in the region.
September 2022	Expansion	Ingredion establishes sustainable state-of-the-art starch manufacturing plant in China. With a new plant for specialty starches, Ingredion advances sustainable production and improves surety of supply to the global F&B supply chain while supporting local farmers. This latest launch doubles Ingredion’s starch production capacity and capabilities in the country.
March 2021	Product Launch	Ingredion Launches ULTRA-TEX 1311 Modified Potato Starch for Indulgent Textures Made Faster and Better. The waxy, instant starch offers food manufacturers a new way to create premium products with enhanced product appeal and cost savings potential. ULTRA-TEX 1311 modified potato starch can be used in a wide variety of traditional and alternative formulations to create indulgent textures, improve stability vs. native potato starch, or replace oil without compromising sensory appeal.
January 2019	Merger & Acquisition	Merger & Acquisition
September 2021	Agreement	Ingredion Incorporated and S&W Seed Company announced the companies have entered into an exclusive U.S. stevia pilot production supply agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, S&W will leverage its proprietary stevia plant portfolio and production techniques to supply Ingredion and its PureCircle by Ingredion subsidiary with high-quality, U.S.-sourced stevia plants.
July 2020	Merger & Acquisition	Ingredion Incorporated announced the completion of its acquisition of PureCircle Limited, the world’s leading producer and innovator of plant-based stevia sweeteners and flavors for the food and beverage industry. Acquisition positions Ingredion to deliver plant-based, low-calorie sugar alternatives addressing global megatrend in the food and beverage industry to reduce sugar in consumers’ diets