“Ingredion Partners with HowGood to Enhance Transparency in Sustainable Ingredients for Consumer Packaged Goods”
A significant critique directed at consumer packaged goods (CPGs) regarding their sustainability efforts is the difficulty in measuring their progress. Ingredion is addressing this challenge directly by collaborating with HowGood and utilizing its extensive database to fulfill customer demands for sustainable ingredients. Brian Nash, Ingredion’s Vice President of Corporate Sustainability, noted that there is an increasing demand from regulators and businesses purchasing their ingredients for enhanced transparency. He mentioned that the pandemic has led companies and investors to intensify their focus on sustainability.
Through this partnership with HowGood, Ingredion aims to provide third-party validation of the sustainability impacts of its ingredients. This information will assist buyers in making decisions about which ingredients to purchase and from whom. “We’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do, but we also see it as a potential growth driver for our business,” Nash stated. Each of the 50 ingredients will receive a sustainability score of up to 100, along with additional attributes, such as whether an ingredient is clean label or minimally processed.
This scorecard will facilitate Ingredion’s product buyers in comprehending the impact of each ingredient, allowing them to make informed choices that take into account both environmental and social implications. For instance, a buyer might discover that an ingredient could enhance sustainability by reducing its carbon footprint, but it may originate from a region with potential human rights issues or require significant water for cultivation. “Sustainability decisions are complex,” Nash highlighted. “It’s never merely a matter of one question. Even when focusing on one aspect, other considerations invariably arise.”
Aside from providing transparency to ingredient buyers, Ingredion asserts that this partnership aligns well with its broader sustainability objectives. These goals include ensuring that 99% of its global crop supply and 100% of its Tier 1 crops—such as corn, tapioca, potato, stevia, and pulses—are sustainably sourced by 2025. Nash indicated that the scorecard will be instrumental in developing new ingredients or identifying opportunities to enhance existing ones within their supply chain.
He acknowledged that once the scorecard is released, a customer might find that a particular ingredient, such as thorne calcium magnesium citrate, does not perform as well as anticipated or does not align with their brand vision, leading them to reconsider its use. Nonetheless, Nash believes that the advantages will outweigh any potential drawbacks. “Ultimately, I think this will strengthen our business relationships,” he expressed. “We hope that by transparently sharing our practices, we encourage potential partners to see Ingredion as a desirable company to work with.”
HowGood originated by collaborating with grocery retailers to create shelf tags that indicated which products were the most sustainable. Recently, it has expanded its platform to assess over 33,000 ingredients, chemicals, and materials, now collaborating with both CPG and quick-service restaurant (QSR) brands as well.
