Ingredion Inc

Our Company

Ingredion Incorporated (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, the “Company,” “Ingredion,” “we,” “us,” and “our”) is a leading global ingredients solutions provider that transforms grains, fruits, vegetables and other plant-based materials into value-added ingredient solutions for the food, beverage, animal nutrition, brewing and industrial markets. Our innovative ingredient solutions help customers stay on trend with simple ingredients and other in-demand ingredients.

Our Purpose is to bring the potential of people, nature and technology together to make life better. We develop, produce and sell a variety of food and beverage ingredients, primarily starches and sweeteners, for a wide range of industries. Currently, we manage our operations geographically on a regional basis, with our businesses and investments classified into the following reportable business segments:

•North America – U.S., Mexico and Canada

•South America – Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Argentina

•Asia-Pacific – Thailand, China, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Vietnam and previously South Korea, in which we sold our business on February 1, 2024

•Europe, Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”) – Germany, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Poland

In November 2023, we announced plans to reorganize our business operations, which will result in a change to our reportable business segments. Once the reorganization is complete, which we expect will occur in 2024, we anticipate that our production assets and commercial efforts will align with a global focus on Texture and Healthful Solutions, a local focus on Food and Industrial Ingredients, and other businesses. We will continue to report our results using the existing reportable segment structure until the reorganization is complete, the new segments are operational and discrete financial information consistent with the new segments is being provided to our Chief Executive Officer.

Our products are derived primarily from the processing of corn and other starch-based materials, such as tapioca, potato and rice. Our product lines include starches and sweeteners, animal feed products and edible corn oil. Our starch-based products include both food-grade and industrial starches, as well as biomaterials. Our sweetener products include glucose syrups, high maltose syrups, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, dextrose, polyols, maltodextrins, and glucose and syrup solids.

Geographic Scope and Operations

As of December 31, 2023, we utilized our global network of 47 manufacturing facilities and joint venture partnerships to support key global product lines. Our manufacturing process is based on a capital-intensive, two-step process that involves the wet-milling and processing of starch-based materials, primarily corn. During the front-end process, the starch-based materials are steeped in a water-based solution and separated into starch and co-products such as protein, fiber and germ used to produce corn oil. The starch is then either dried for sale or further processed to make starches, sweeteners and other ingredients that serve the particular needs of various industries.

Our North America region includes 22 manufacturing facilities that produce a wide range of starches, sweeteners, gum acacia, pea protein, and fruit and vegetable concentrates.

Our South America region includes seven manufacturing facilities that produce regular, modified, waxy, tapioca starches, high fructose and high maltose syrups and syrup solids, dextrins and maltodextrins, dextrose, specialty starches, caramel color and sorbitol. We also own 49 percent of Ingrear Holding S.A., which operates five manufacturing facilities in Argentina to produce value-added ingredients for sale to customers in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical and other industries in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay (the “Argentina joint venture”). Ingredion and Grupo Arcor, an Argentine food company, jointly appoint a team of executives to manage the Argentina joint venture.

Our Asia-Pacific region manufactures corn-based products in China and Thailand, tapioca- and rice-based products in Thailand, stevia sweetener products in Malaysia and China, chemically modified starch-based pharmaceutical excipients in India, and spray dried and fine grade mannitol in India. On February 1, 2024, we completed the divestiture of our business in South Korea, which manufactured corn-based products, to an affiliate of the Sajo Group, a food company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. We supply products manufactured in the Asia-Pacific region to our global network. As of December 31, 2023, the region’s operations include twelve manufacturing facilities that produce modified, specialty and regular waxy tapioca and rice starches, dextrins, glucose, high maltose syrup, stevia sweeteners, dextrose, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color and pharmaceutical-grade polyols.

Our Asia-Pacific region includes 88 percent ownership of PureCircle Limited (“PureCircle”), one of the leading producers and innovators of stevia sweeteners and flavors for the food and beverage industry. We also agreed to acquire the remaining 35 percent of shares from our current 65 percent ownership of Mannitab Pharma Specialties Private Limited (“Mannitab”), an Indian manufacturer of spray dried mannitol and fine grade mannitol, by March 2026.

Our EMEA region includes six manufacturing facilities that produce modified and specialty starches, glucose and dextrose in Pakistan, Germany and the United Kingdom. Through our German-headquartered subsidiary KaTech, we offer advanced texture and stabilization solutions to the food and beverage industry.

We utilize a network of tolling manufacturers in various regions in the production cycle of certain specialty starches. In general, these tolling manufacturers produce certain basic starches for us and we in turn complete the manufacturing process of starches through our finishing channels.

Our approach to production and service, which focuses on local management and production improvements of our worldwide operations, provides us with a unique understanding of the cultures and product requirements in each of the geographic markets in which we operate. This allows us to bring added value to our customers through tailored, innovative solutions. Our centralized production planning, distribution and financial functions similarly give us the ability to serve global customers, leverage digital solutions, ration production capacity, identify synergies, and maximize the benefits of our global presence.

Products

Our portfolio of products is generally classified into the following categories: Starch Products, Sweetener Products, and Co-products and others. Within these categories, we identify a portion of our products as specialty ingredients and the remainder of our products as core ingredients.

Starch products: Our starch products represented approximately 47 percent, 46 percent and 45 percent of our net sales for 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Starches are an important component in a wide range of processed foods, where they are used for adhesion, clouding, dusting, expansion, fat replacement, freshness, gelling, glazing, mouthfeel, stabilization and texture. Cornstarch is sold to cornstarch packers for sale to consumers. Starches are also used in paper production to create a smooth surface for printed communications and to improve strength in recycled papers. Specialty paper starches are used for enhanced drainage, fiber retention, oil and grease resistance, improved printability and biochemical oxygen demand control. The textile industry uses starches and specialty starches for sizing (abrasion resistance) to provide size and finishes for manufactured products. Industrial starches are used in the production of construction materials, textiles, adhesives, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, as well as in mining and water filtration. Specialty industrial starches are used for biomaterial applications, including biodegradable plastics, fabric softeners and detergents, hair and skin care applications, dusting powders for surgical gloves, and in the production of glass fiber and insulation.

Sweetener products: Our sweetener products represented approximately 34 percent, 33 percent and 33 percent of our net sales for 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Sweeteners include products such as glucose syrups, high maltose syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, polyols, maltodextrin, glucose syrup solids and non-GMO (genetically modified organism) syrups. Our sweeteners are used in a wide variety of food and beverage products, such as baked goods, snack foods, canned fruits, condiments, candy and other sweets, dairy products, ice cream, jams and jellies, prepared mixes, table syrups, and beverages. These sweetener products offer functionality in addition to sweetness, such as texture, body and viscosity; help control freezing points, crystallization and browning; add humectancy (ability to add moisture) and flavor; and act as binders. Our high maltose syrups speed the fermentation process, allowing brewers to increase capacity without adding capital. Dextrose has a wide range of applications in the food and confection industries, in solutions for intravenous (“IV”) and other pharmaceutical applications, and in numerous industrial applications like wallboard, biodegradable surface agents and moisture control agents. Our specialty sweeteners provide affordable and natural, reduced calorie and sugar-free solutions for our customers.

Co-products and others: Co-products and others represented approximately 19 percent, 21 percent and 22 percent of our net sales for 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. We sell refined corn oil (from germ) to packers of cooking oil and to producers of margarine, salad dressings, shortening, mayonnaise and other foods. We also sell corn gluten feed as animal feed and corn gluten meal as high-protein feed for chickens, pet food and aquaculture. Our other products include fruit and vegetable products, such as concentrates, purees and essences, as well as pulse proteins and hydrocolloids systems and blends.

Specialty ingredients within the product portfolio: Within our three product portfolios, we consider certain of our products to be specialty ingredients. Specialty ingredients represented approximately 34 percent, 34 percent and 33 percent of our net sales for 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. These ingredients deliver more functionality than our other products and add additional customer value. Our specialty ingredients are aligned with growing market and consumer trends such as health and wellness, clean-label, simple ingredients, affordability, indulgence and sustainability.

We drive growth for our specialty ingredients portfolio by leveraging the following growth platforms:

Starch-based Texturizers: These ingredients support the structure and texture behind great eating experiences. Products are made from corn, potato, rice and tapioca, and offer a multitude of textures, functionalities and stability during processing and shelf life to a broad range of food products.

Clean and Simple Ingredients: These functional ingredients address the clean label trend for finished products made with shorter lists of food ingredients that have achieved broad consumer acceptance. From food and beverages to pet food and personal care, consumers are looking for clean, simple, natural and authentic products that they can identify and trust. The broad portfolio of clean label ingredients includes starches, sweeteners, flours, nutrition ingredients, emulsifiers, and fruit and vegetable concentrates.

Sugar Reduction and Specialty Sweeteners: These solutions provide sweetness or functional replacement for sugar in reduced-calorie and sugar-free foods and beverages without sacrificing quality and consistency. These specialty ingredients are made from a variety of GMO and non-GMO raw material bases and include such ingredients as stevia sweeteners, polyols, dextrose and allulose, which is a rare sugar.

Food Systems: These systems deliver ingredient combinations that simplify a customer’s production cycle. A food system can address an array of functional challenges, including mouthfeel/texture for dairy and alternative dairy products, thickening of sauces, stabilization in high-protein drinks, gelling for fruit fillings, film formers for candy shells, foaming and frothing, adding soluble fibers and nutritional ingredients, adhering particles to breads, and emulsification of flavors.

Plant-based Proteins: These specialty pulse-based protein ingredients bring solutions made from fava beans and peas. They add protein, dietary fiber, micronutrients and texture to food and beverages.

Core ingredients within the product portfolio: We refer to the remainder of our starch products, sweetener products and co-products that do not fall into specialty ingredients, as defined above, as core ingredients. Core ingredients represented approximately 66 percent, 66 percent and 67 percent of our net sales for 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Competition

The starch and sweetener industry is highly competitive. Competition within our markets is largely based on product functionality, price and quality. The U.S. is a highly competitive market with operations by other starch processors, several of which are divisions of larger enterprises. Some of these competitors, unlike us, have vertically integrated their starch processing and other operations. Our competitors include, among others, Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (“ADM”), Cargill, Inc., Tate & Lyle PLC, and Primient. Our operations in Mexico and Canada face competition from U.S. imports and local producers including ALMEX, a Mexican joint venture between ADM and Primient. In South America, Cargill maintains starch processing operations in Brazil and Argentina. We also face competition from Roquette Frères S.A., primarily in our EMEA, North America and Asia-Pacific regions. Smaller local corn and tapioca processors also operate in some of our markets.

Some of our products also compete with products made from raw materials other than corn. High fructose corn syrup and monohydrate dextrose compete principally with cane and beet sugar products. Co-products such as corn oil and gluten meal compete with products of the corn dry milling industry and with soybean oil, soybean meal and other products. Fluctuations in prices of these competing products may affect prices of, and profits derived from, our products.

Customers

We supply a broad range of customers in over 60 industries worldwide. The following table shows the approximate portion of total net sales by industry for each of the industries we served in 2023:

No customer accounted for 10 percent or more of our net sales in 2023, 2022 or 2021.

Raw Materials

Corn (primarily yellow dent) is the primary basic raw material we use to produce starches and sweeteners. The price of corn, which is determined by reference to prices on the Chicago Board of Trade, fluctuates as a result of various factors, including farmers’ planting decisions, climate, domestic and foreign government policies (including those related to the production of ethanol), livestock feeding, shortages or surpluses of world grain supplies, and trade agreements. We use chips and slices from potato processors as the primary raw material to manufacture potato-based starches. We also use tapioca, particularly in certain of our production processes in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition to corn, potatoes, and tapioca, we use pulses, gums, rice, stevia, yellow peas and sugar as raw materials, among others.

Corn is also grown in other areas of the world, including China, Brazil, Europe, Argentina, Mexico, South Africa, Canada and Pakistan. Our subsidiaries outside the U.S. utilize both local supplies of corn and corn imported from other geographic areas, including the U.S., and we generally expect the supply of corn for these subsidiaries to be adequate for our needs. Corn prices for our non-U.S. subsidiaries fluctuate as a result of the same factors that affect U.S. corn prices.

We also utilize specialty grains such as waxy and high amylose corn, as well as proprietary seed varietals in our operations. In general, the planning cycle for our specialty grain sourcing begins three years in advance of the anticipated delivery of the specialty corn, since the necessary seed must be grown in the season before we contract to buy the grain. To secure these specialty grains at the time of our anticipated needs, we contract with certain farmers to grow the specialty corn approximately two years in advance of delivery. These specialty grains have a higher cost due to their more limited supply and require longer planning cycles to mitigate the risk of supply shortages.

Due to the competitive nature of our industry and the availability of substitute products not produced from corn, such as sugar from cane or beets, end-product prices in any period may not fluctuate in a manner that correlates to raw material costs of corn during that period.

We use derivative hedging contracts to protect the gross margin of our fixed (“firm”) priced business, primarily in North America, and we follow a policy of hedging our exposure to commodity price fluctuations with commodities futures and options contracts, primarily for certain North American corn purchases. Other operations may be hedged based on our management’s judgment as to the need to fix the costs of our raw materials to protect our profitability. Outside North America and Europe, we generally enter into short-term commercial sales contracts and adjust our selling prices based upon the local raw material costs. See Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk for additional information.

Research and Development

Our global network of approximately 500 scientists creates innovative food solutions in 32 Ingredion Idea Labs® with headquarters in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Activities at Bridgewater include plant science and physical, chemical and biochemical modifications to food formulations, food sensory evaluation, and development of non-food applications such as starch-based biopolymers. In addition, we have product application technology centers that direct our product development teams globally to create product application solutions to better serve the ingredient needs of our customers. Product development activity is focused on developing product applications for identified customer and market needs. Through this approach, we have developed value-added products for use by customers in various industries. We usually collaborate with customers to develop the desired product application either in the customers’ facilities, our technical service laboratories, or on a contract basis.

Research and development (“R&D”) is supported by our marketing, product technology, and technology support employees, as well as technical support services, to assist our customers with application development and co-creation. We invest in R&D and digital transformation solutions to support new product development and innovation, to enable greater value delivery to our customers, to reduce waste and lower our costs, and to drive operational excellence.

Sales and Distribution

Our salaried sales workforce, who are generally dedicated to customers in a geographic region, sell our products directly to manufacturers and distributors. In addition, we have employees that provide technical support to our sales personnel on an industry basis. We generally contract with trucking companies to deliver our bulk products to customer destinations. In North America, we generally use trucks to ship to nearby customers. For those customers located considerable distances from our manufacturing facilities, we primarily use either rail transport or a combination of rail transport and trucks to deliver our products.

Patents and Trademarks

As of December 31, 2023, we owned more than 1,900 patents and patents pending, which relate to a variety of products and processes, as well as a number of established trademarks under which we market our products. We also have the right to use other patents and trademarks pursuant to patent and trademark licenses. We do not believe that any individual patent or group of related patents or any trademark is material to our business.

Human Capital

We believe the strength of our workforce is one of the significant contributors to our success as a global company. Attracting, developing and retaining global talent with the right skills to drive our business is central to our values and long-term growth strategy. All of our employees contribute to our success and help us drive financial performance.

Workforce Profile

As of December 31, 2023, Ingredion employed approximately 11,600 people, of whom approximately 3,200 were located in the U.S. and Canada. Approximately 32 percent of our U.S. and Canadian employees are members of labor unions. Our collective bargaining agreement at our Bedford Park, Illinois manufacturing facility, which covers approximately 250 employees, expires in 2024.

The following table provides additional information about our employees as of December 31, 2023:

Workplace Safety

The overall well-being and safety of our employees and customers is one of our top priorities. We continue our strong focus on maintaining an injury-free workplace and invest in training, workplace resources and continuous improvement methodologies to improve safety results and ensure responsible management of all our facilities, particularly in our manufacturing plants, which continue to represent the greatest safety and health risks. A workplace safety goal represents a part of each employee's personal performance objectives each year as we strive to achieve an injury-free work environment.

Culture and Employee Engagement

We conduct confidential engagement surveys of our global workforce. Executive officers and leaders throughout the organization review aggregate survey results and create action plans at global, regional, functional and managerial levels. Furthermore, we employ a flexible approach for our office-based employees on how and where we work. We focus on agile ways of working that enable colleagues to work remotely when appropriate and organize our offices to foster connection and collaboration.

Inclusion and Belonging

Our Executive Leadership Team and Board of Directors lead our Purpose and drive inclusion and belonging throughout the organization. Our program structure includes regional councils and global councils, which are collectively composed of regional and functional business leaders, human resource partners and select Business Resource Group (“BRG”) leaders.

We leverage the diverse experience and skills of our BRGs to help inform our business strategy. Our nine BRGs, which we have implemented across our global operations, play a role in connecting employees across geographies and business areas, by providing colleagues with opportunities to enhance cultural awareness, enable collaboration, and inform our strategies for a broad consumer marketplace.

We also participate in the Paradigm for Parity® coalition, aspiring to achieve gender parity at manager level and above. As of December 31, 2023, employees who self-identify as women accounted for more than 30 percent of our Executive Leadership Team and 40 percent of our independent members of our Board of Directors. Additionally, the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (“GEI”), a modified market capitalization-weighted index that aims to track the performance of public companies committed to transparency in gender-data reporting, has included Ingredion in the GEI for seven years. We use the GEI as a benchmark to measure our performance and evaluate opportunities for improvement.

In December 2023, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation designated Ingredion as a top scorer in its 2023-2024 Corporate Equality Index with the Equality 100 Award: Leader in LGBTQ+ Workplace Inclusion.

Government Regulation

As a manufacturer and marketer of food items and items for use in the pharmaceutical industry, our operations and the use of many of our products are subject to federal, state, foreign and local statutes and regulations, including the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act. We and many of our products are also subject to regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other government agencies. Among other things, applicable regulations of these agencies prescribe requirements and establish standards for product quality, purity and labeling. Failure to comply with one or more regulatory requirements can result in a variety of sanctions, including monetary fines. No material fines were imposed on us in 2023. We may also be required to comply with federal, state, foreign and local laws regulating food handling and storage. We believe these laws and regulations have not negatively affected our competitive position.

Our operations are also subject to federal, state, foreign and local laws and regulations for environmental matters, including air and water quality, as well as other regulations intended to protect public health and the environment. We operate industrial boilers that fire natural gas, coal, or biofuels to operate our manufacturing facilities. Those boilers, along with product dryers, are our primary source of greenhouse gas emissions. During 2023, we spent $36 million for environmental control and wastewater treatment equipment to be incorporated into existing facilities and in planned construction projects. We currently anticipate that we will invest approximately $36 million for environmental facilities and programs in 2024.

Based on current laws and regulations and their enforcement and interpretation, we do not expect that the costs of future environmental compliance will be a material expense, although there can be no assurance that we will remain in compliance or that the costs of remaining in compliance will not have a material adverse effect on our future financial condition and results of operations.

Additional Information

Our website address is www.ingredion.com and our investor website is www.ir.ingredionincorporated.com. We make available, free of charge through our investor website, our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. We make these reports available as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with or furnish them to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our corporate governance guidelines, board committee charters and code of ethics are posted on our investor website, and will be made available in print without charge to any stockholder upon request in writing to our principal executive offices at Ingredion Incorporated, 5 Westbrook Corporate Center, Westchester, Illinois 60154, Attention: Corporate Secretary. The information on, or accessible through, our website is not a part of, and is not incorporated by reference into, this report.

Information about our Executive Officers

Following the November 2023 announcement of our plans to reorganize our operations, some of our executive officers were identified for new roles beginning in 2024. Our executive officers and their roles as of February 21, 2024 are as follows: