What’s next for Ingredion

Speaking more broadly about Ingredion, Mr. Zallie said the company has made steady, gradual progress in its long-standing quest to build the percentage of the company’s business represented by specialty ingredients. Before the acquisition of National Starch in 2010, this proportion was only 5%. Currently, specialty ingredients account for 24% of Ingredion sales. By 2019, the company is on target to reach 27%, Mr. Zallie said. He cited the March 2015 acquisition of Penford Corp., the leading U.S. producer of cornstarch, as an example of how Ingredion is moving to grow this business.

While a large part of the specialty ingredient business is devoted to helping companies develop value-added products, other ingredient solutions have very different objectives.  Even six years after the end of the economic recession, food processing companies remain interested in meeting the needs of consumers who are most price sensitive. Mr. Zallie said helping food companies achieve their objectives in this area is a major focus for Ingredion.

“Affordable formulating has been around for a while now and it is not going away,” he said. “It reflects the economic realities that have been around for a while and are still with us. We’re not just focused on trying to add value in the way of giving marketing label opportunities to a customer, but also recognizing their need to be cost effective as well. The breadth of our products and formulating expertise helps them save money through formulations. We’re very mindful and sensitive of that. You need to be grounded in what the reality of the challenges of the industry as well.