Global consumers are increasingly influenced by environmental and social factors when deciding between food and beverage products. At the IFT First 2025 trade show in Chicago, US, last week, supply chain transparency took center stage as exhibitors presented solutions for more responsible ingredient sourcing and holistic sustainability choices.

The demand for greater transparency in the US F&B industry is driven by regulatory requirements, tech advancements, and growing consumer preferences for safer, healthier, and ethical food within a globalized food system.

According to Innova Market Insights’ research into clean label trends, almost 2 in 3 global consumers trust environmental claims on food packaging but seek greater transparency. Ethical-environment claims show the fastest growth, with a 15% CAGR over the past five years.

However, as Ingredion’s VP for Corporate Sustainability, Brian Nash, told Food Ingredients First on the show floor, sustainability-related decisions are complicated and often require trade-offs. The company takes a transparent, data-driven approach with its customers, helping them achieve their preferred balance of sustainability outcomes.

“We’ve always tried to be upfront and transparent with our customers about the challenges we’re facing in implementing sustainability. A decade ago, there wasn’t a lot of appetite from our company to talk publicly about where we failed, but the more we talked about what’s not working, the more we found opportunities to collaborate with our customers. They like that level of transparency — they don’t expect perfectionIngredion and HowGood

Ingredion has partnered with HowGood, the world’s largest product sustainability database, since 2022. HowGood focuses on eight different sustainability attributes, helping Ingredion understand the wide-ranging impacts of changing ingredients or sourcing locations.

“HowGood helps us better understand formulating for sustainability and the trade-offs,” explained Nash.

“For example, a customer wanted low-carbon footprint stevia. I said, ‘The lowest carbon footprint and highest yield stevia comes from the Xinjiang province (China), which has some human rights allegations of forced labor.’ The customer said, ‘No, no, no, we don’t want it from there.’ And I said, ‘So what you want is the lowest carbon footprint, ethically sourced stevia?’ And they said, ‘Yes.’ That’s a perfect example of the trade-offs in sustainability.”

Global consumers are increasingly influenced by environmental and social factors when deciding between food and beverage products. At the IFT First 2025 trade show in Chicago, US, last week, supply chain transparency took center stage as exhibitors presented solutions for more responsible ingredient sourcing and holistic sustainability choices.

The demand for greater transparency in the US F&B industry is driven by regulatory requirements, tech advancements, and growing consumer preferences for safer, healthier, and ethical food within a globalized food system.

According to Innova Market Insights’ research into clean label trends, almost 2 in 3 global consumers trust environmental claims on food packaging but seek greater transparency. Ethical-environment claims show the fastest growth, with a 15% CAGR over the past five years.

However, as Ingredion’s VP for Corporate Sustainability, Brian Nash, told Food Ingredients First on the show floor, sustainability-related decisions are complicated and often require trade-offs. The company takes a transparent, data-driven approach with its customers, helping them achieve their preferred balance of sustainability outcomes.

“We’ve always tried to be upfront and transparent with our customers about the challenges we’re facing in implementing sustainability. A decade ago, there wasn’t a lot of appetite from our company to talk publicly about where we failed, but the more we talked about what’s not working, the more we found opportunities to collaborate with our customers. They like that level of transparency — they don’t expect perfection, but they do want to know what’s going on so they can help be part of the solution,” said Nash.dion and HowGood

Ingredion has partnered with HowGood, the world’s largest product sustainability database, since 2022. HowGood focuses on eight different sustainability attributes, helping Ingredion understand the wide-ranging impacts of changing ingredients or sourcing locations.

“HowGood helps us better understand formulating for sustainability and the trade-offs,” explained Nash.

“For example, a customer wanted low-carbon footprint stevia. I said, ‘The lowest carbon footprint and highest yield stevia comes from the Xinjiang province (China), which has some human rights allegations of forced labor.’ The customer said, ‘No, no, no, we don’t want it from there.’ And I said, ‘So what you want is the lowest carbon footprint, ethically sourced stevia?’ And they said, ‘Yes.’ That’s a perfect example of the trade-offs in sustainability.”

The breadth and scope of Ingredion’s sustainability-related activities have grown with the increasing consumer and customer demand for more responsible solutions.

“The biggest challenge is that there’s too much noise and we’re seeing the cost of sustainability going up. It’s important that a company has a North Star and a sustainability strategy that’s integrated with the business strategy, so we can decide what spaces we will play in,” said Nash.

The breadth and scope of Ingredion’s sustainability-related activities have grown with the increasing consumer and customer demand for more responsible solutions.

“The biggest challenge is that there’s too much noise and we’re seeing the cost of sustainability going up. It’s important that a company has a North Star and a sustainability strategy that’s integrated with the business strategy, so we can decide what spaces we will play in,” said Nash.