How Ingredion Uses Sunhat to Establish an AI-based Library for Sustainability Reporting Projects

The Situation 

Ingredion’s Continued Growth in Sustainability 

As a provider of ingredient solutions from agricultural inputs, Ingredion is deeply committed to sustainability across its entire operation. They have made significant progress in sustainably sourcing crops and reducing carbon emissions, with a strong focus on aligning with the needs of their customers and the broader industry. Sustainability plays a key role in driving growth for their business and advancing progress, both for their own goals and those of their customers.

The pace of change in sustainability is rapidly accelerating, fueled by regulatory shifts, emerging standards, and evolving demands from both customers and consumers. This rapid evolution brings added complexity, requiring them to adapt continuously to meet new expectations. 

To ensure transparency and verifiable proof, Ingredion relies on widely recognized external ratings and standards to assess the progress and maturity of their sustainability efforts. These ratings include Sedex Member Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA), CDP questionnaire, SAI Platform Farm Sustainability Assessment, and EcoVadis assessments.

Looking ahead, Ingredion is preparing to integrate the upcoming Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requirements into its sustainability reporting strategy. This involves the collection and disclosure of more detailed data points, enhancing the transparency and rigor of their reporting. 

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The Challenge

Improving Data Processes and Collaboration for Different Sustainability Questionnaires

Ingredion faced evolving challenges in its data collection process for customer requests, sustainability reporting, rating responses and CSRD, relying considerably on manual methods. While the company had established systems for gathering specific quantitative indicators, the collection of qualitative data and document management remained a significant gap. Additionally, assessments such as EcoVadis are conducted at both the holding and facility levels, which, coupled with evolving standards and processes, presented further resource constraints and complexities for Ingredions's sustainability team.

With the increasing demand for sustainability data, a key challenge emerged: the lack of a centralized place for Ingredions’s growing number of quantitative and qualitative data points and respective evidence documents. Hence, they were looking for a solution that could build up this central library, while streamlining their project collaboration and ensuring compliance with the ever-evolving reporting standards and guidelines.

The Solution

The Sunhat Moment

The sustainability team at Ingredion was convinced by Sunhat’s solution, as the software not only addresses their immediate reporting management needs but also provides flexibility and scalability to adapt to future reporting requests from their customers and their regulators.

Sunhat’s software provides the tools and capabilities necessary to map Ingredion’s internal data structure to the diverse range of sustainability reporting projects. This enables them to efficiently manage their sustainability data and corresponding documents, ensuring that each response is tailored to meet the specific rating and reporting needs.

By harnessing the power of Sunhat’s advanced AI technology and flexible data collection features, Ingredion is able to consolidate their data and document sources into a single, accessible platform and tackle reporting challenges head-on.

Given their engagement in CSRD reporting alongside participation in rating systems like CDP and EcoVadis, the sustainability team was eager to establish systematic processes and an efficient project management framework for managing both rating frameworks as well as their individual data point catalog in line with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). 

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How Ingredion Uses Sunhat

Ingredion uses Sunhat’s modules which link the questionnaires and data requests with their sustainability data. While answering the required questions, the database is automatically filled and evidence is generated at every point within the software.

By setting up flexible data collections, Ingredion is able to successfully collaborate internally as well as externally with their stakeholders. Being able to assign tasks and responsibilities provides Ingredion’s team members with transparency and visibility into the workflow, enabling them to track progress and prioritize tasks effectively.

Sunhat’s inbox and project management features enable Ingredion’s team to effectively respond to the EcoVadis assessment, or the CDP questionnaire, along with the necessary steps and actions to achieve continuous progress and long-term results in their sustainability initiatives. In the future, Ingredion plans to use Sunhat for further ESG customer requests, Sedex and their own GRI aligned sustainability report. 

Ingredion benefits above all from Sunhat as an AI-based software for assigning data, finding answers and generating them. 

“With Sunhat, I can easily collaborate with colleagues around the business without email. It streamlines our customer response process, and allows the information from our subject-matter experts to be added to our knowledge library to reduce duplicate work. In addition, the Sunhat team is amazing to work with. They are quick to respond to our needs and know their platform’s capabilities inside and out.”

Katherine Shrum
Sustainability Manager

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The Results

A Ready-to-use Knowledge Library of Quantitative and Qualitative Sustainability Data

Through the integration of Sunhat, Ingredion is able to establish a comprehensive database of quantitative and qualitative ESG data on an ongoing basis. With every new reporting and data request that Ingredion answers by using Sunhat, their central data pool grows, resulting in:

• Enhanced Response Efficiency: The centralized library facilitates the generation of answers to incoming reporting and data requests, whether they require rapid replies to customers emails or comprehensive project management for rating systems or regulatory reporting practices, ensuring timely and precise outcomes.

• Optimized Data Management: The software fosters seamless collaboration and streamlined data collection across various departments and facilities, enhancing efficiency and coherence in Ingredion's sustainability reporting.

• Automated Reporting Processes: Sunhat provides guidance on industry standards and regulatory directives while ensuring the accuracy of internal data collection processes. By automating data collection and validation processes, the software reduces the risk of errors or inconsistencies.

By staying ahead of standard changes and continuously refining their approach, Ingredion is positioned to lead in sustainability, helping both their business and their customers thrive in a changing marketplace.