[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hi everyone. Today we're going to talk about how global ingredients company Ingredion has launched an ambitious enterprise level E and C meeting to drive strategic alignment on business integrity. I'm your host, Bill Coffin and this is the Ethicast.
Ingredion is a leading plant based global ingredient solutions company headquartered in Westchester, Illinois. The company makes sweeteners, starches, nutrition ingredients and biomaterials that are used in a wide range of food, beverages, paper and pharmaceuticals. Or to quote Ingredion itself, quote, our winning aspiration is to be the go to provider for texture and healthful solutions that make healthy taste better. End quote.
Ingredion is also an 11 time world's most ethical companies honoree. And you can see it and how it innovates. This year the company launched an effort to bring together all of its major ethics and compliance stakeholders for a unified meeting that would help the entire enterprise align on its business integrity strategy. This is the kind of thing that a lot of companies talk about doing, but Ingredion is actually doing it. So we wanted to learn more.
With us today is Ingredion Vice President and General Counsel Compliance Kimberly White. Kimberly is an experienced attorney and senior executive whose passion for integrated ethics and compliance solutions has helped to build robust business integrity programs at companies within global, highly competitive business environments. And we're delighted to note that this is her second time on the Ethicast. Kimberly, welcome back to the show. It's great to speak with you.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: Thank you. Happy to be here.
[00:01:38] Speaker A: Can you walk us through the process of how you put together this meeting that brought together so many business integrity stakeholders? I mean, this is no simple meeting.
So how long did it take to make this a reality from concept to execution?
[00:01:50] Speaker B: Well, from concept, I have to say it took me about a month and it didn't really gel for me until we had our in person global legal team meeting. We call ourselves glbg, which is Global Legal, Business Integrity and Government affairs, which are the functions within our legal team. And we had an in person meeting in early May and we had an exercise, we always do a business integrity workshop among ourselves. This is our second in person meeting. And so what we did had someone facilitate that meeting and we talked about looking at an investigation at different aspects. So we had some of our team playing HR team members, some of our team members playing financial team members, some of our team members playing IT team members and looking at the investigation from these different perspectives. Now I had already started thinking about, okay, we've got to do our strategic plan and that's how we actually operationalize our program. We do this on a strategic planning cycle. So we're at the last year of our three year cycle in 2025. So we were already starting to think about, okay, what do we want to do for 2026, 2027 and 2028. And then as we were doing this exercise, I thought to myself, what if I got all these functions in a room together? Because what I learned from our exercise and our workshop was that we come at the same thing from different perspectives, given our own expertise. And I'm like, it'd be really tough, great to get these stakeholders in one room together and think about from our own perspective and what we need, how are we going to deliver and build on what we're doing in business. Integrity. And again, you don't do integrity alone. You need your stakeholders to actually deploy. So let's all talk about this together so that when we actually deploy in 2026, we're aligned in what we want to do. So that's how it actually started. And then I just sent out the invitations to everyone and everyone responded. And so that's how we got through that first piece. So it was really just kind of transforming that thought process to reality. So it took about maybe four to six weeks altogether.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: How has this stakeholder driven method of strategic planning helped to align your team and all of your various stakeholders kind of pull in the same direction when it comes to building ingredients? Business integrity strategy?
[00:04:06] Speaker B: Well, interestingly enough, one of the things that we did to start building that process is the ethisphere application process. You know, when I started, what we did is we all got in a room like, who are all these stakeholders? And rather than, I think our previous method was just kind of, you know, the legal team kind of sitting there and kind of reaching out to people individually. We all got together so that kind of get together, we're all in this together. Things started much before anything that we did from a strategic standpoint.
So it was kind of easy in that sense to start thinking about it in that way. But also if you look at our inclusion and belonging team, they have culture as part of their imperative, right? As. As do we all when we talk about not the what that we do, but the how that we do it. And so that's a conversation that's a through line, through everything. For example, I sit on a number of different committees, right? I sit on our Sustainability Council, I sit on our regular meetings with our information security and cybersecurity team. So we have those conversations individually as stakeholders and Being a part of that group, why not us all talk together and figure out from a strategy perspective, where do we want to go? So that's how we started to get it together. I think the thinking has evolved that no one does this alone.
We all have to do this together. And because our goal ultimately is to help our company reach its objectives from a business standpoint and do it in a way that's going to be sustainable and build on our reputation for integrity. Right. I mean, that's just. That's it. Because this is a very relationship business. Right. And want to be the partner you want to be. That go to person. And that go to person is not only delivering your products, but how you deliver them. It's extremely important. And we all recognize that when you.
[00:05:53] Speaker A: Gather together your various stakeholders for this meeting, was there one stakeholder group in particular that you felt that, you know what, this particular meeting framework has really moved the needle in a meaningful way. I presume you have, you know, great relations with all these groups, but did you see that this meeting really had a particular impact on one particular group in terms of how it managed to get you guys to align or how you're able to mutually reinforce your efforts to fulfill that greater strategy?
[00:06:18] Speaker B: That's a great question.
Well, obviously hr, because HR has such a big piece and inclusion and belonging, right.
Which is part of the HR team and building that culture, because, you know, we take seriously, we want to not only have compliance with the law, but we also want to promote ethical conduct. We want to promote the understanding that everything is not just about the what, but the how. And so our individual conversations and collaborations. And we have many with our HR team. Right. For example, we have something called Global Talent for Operations. And every year they do a kickoff and it features an ethical, ethical session. Right. So we have to talk about ethical conduct. And we partner with inclusion and belonging to build that out. We also have something called Inclusion Week that just concluded in July. So we always participate in that. And then conversely, our inclusion and belonging team always is a part of what we do during Integrity Week, which is coming up in September, because one of our values is inclusion and belonging. So we want to focus on each one of our values. And so we have those collaborative opportunities. So I would say our HR team is really important. I'd also say our audit team is really important because they kind of look at what we're doing and seeing, you know, are we meeting what we need to do? Are there other things that we need to do? Really having those great one on one Conversations. And then I would also say also with information security, because cybersecurity is extremely important.
Are we getting what we need as a team? And of course sustainability and human rights. And we've kind of worked with them to build our human rights policy and our strategies around that and really support that effort as well. Procurement is another key player in what we do and making certain that we've got the right incentives, we've got the right guidance with our supplier code of conduct. And so all of these stakeholders individually have worked with over the past years of our strategies and our plan. And so, yes, so I would say I don't know if I could put it in level of priority, but I think they're all impacting the organization. But you start to realize that you really do need that alignment with each one of these key functions to, to build out your vision for integrity and it's a part of everything you do. Because one of our strategic imperatives, and I'll get into this when we talk about the actual plan, was we wanted to make certain that we operationalize ethics and compliance. And so we wanted to make certain we call it be the voice. And so that was, that's part of operationalizing. How do we put it in everything that we do? And I think we've done a great job in this strategic planning cycle in doing that.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: How do you expect your inaugural efforts this year to inform what it is you like to approach and to accomplish next year and in that next three year planning cycle?
[00:09:08] Speaker B: Yeah, I think this is what was new for me because we actually, I have always done this kind of look back as to what worked and what didn't and then hearing that from your stakeholders as to what worked and what didn't and what you'd like to see happen is kind of the missing voice in all of this.
So I want to make sure I answer the questions like so this first meeting that we had in July was really about what is the vision here, what is it we can all align around. Right. And so we had some great ideas and so we haven't settled on what our strategic vision is going to be.
So that's something we still have to do, but that was one of our objectives. And then also looking at our strategic imperatives, what do we still need to do and what have we already done? So I think we had four strategic imperatives in this strategic planning cycle.
I am of the opinion, as I shared with our stakeholders, I don't think we need four anymore. I think we're more along two.
Right. And that's because I think we, we have become that voice. And I've got some, some concrete examples of how we've become that voice.
I think we've done a great job of visibility. People know who we are, we've branded. We're clear. I think, you know, tick that box. We've done that. But I think there's more work to be done in some of these other strategic imperatives. So I think they will carry over.
And I think there was a consensus on that. But I'm going to follow up with the participants just to make sure that we're all aligned on that. So that was what we were doing for session one. Now we have another session coming up in October.
And what we then we want to figure out is like, okay, now that we know what our strategic plans are or imperatives are, what are our key initiatives, what do we absolutely want to accomplish in 2026, 2027 and 2028? And then how are we going to do it? How are we going to know we're successful? So this is the part that I'm really, really passionate about, is like, how do we prove that we're doing the work and it's making. How we're moving that needle, right? What is our data? How are we going to. That's. That to me, is where the rubber is going to meet the road. And we've done a great job of what we've done, but I think there's more that we can do to establish Those metrics, those KPIs, they're going to say, this is how we know we're successful. So that's going to be the conversation in October. So those are the difference between session one and session two.
[00:11:20] Speaker A: So if I can back up for a second, you said something really interesting, which is the notion of like, we know we're the voice, right? Can you talk about some examples of how you know you're the voice?
[00:11:29] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I'm very proud of the work that we've done. So in 2018, Ingredion, or was it 2019? My memory's failing, but it was a while ago. We upgraded our values and they were fabulous. And one of the values where we specifically talk about integrity is our care first value. We have five corporate values.
What we've done and what you'll see now in the re.
Reworking of those values. Not really reworking. I think, I think the better word is enhancing of our values is how we definitionally have put what we knew to be the through line for each one of These values, which is integrity.
So if you look at our website today and you look at the definition of each one of those values, each one of them now has an element that talks about integrity as a part of that. Now give you a couple of examples. So in our be preferred value, which is we earn the right to be customer preferred by delivering mutual, enduring value at every touch point in the customer experience. Great.
How do we do that? One of those bullet points says this.
We operate with integrity as a high performing collaborative team dedicated to the success of our customers, teams and company.
Next one in everyone belongs. Clearly a corporate value where we talk about the inclusive culture that we create here at Ingredion, but we also say now that we uphold the highest standards of integrity in all our interactions.
When you talk about innovating boldly, that's our innovation thing. We want to be an innovative company. We courageously strive to get those breakthrough innovations, but we also talk about we are guided by ethical decision making.
That's the new piece of this and that's essential to innovation. I mean, those things are. It's fabulous because to me, that's the through line, right? Integrity is the through line to each one of our values. That's the how of the what.
And we talk about that and we'll talk about that more during Integrity Week, which is coming up in a few weeks. So I think that's how we start to integrate what we do at each point of our value. So no one can say, oh yeah, yeah, that's just care first and we're doing safety, we're good. No, no, no, no, no. It's in everything we do and in everything that we talk about. And our leadership team kind of stresses this every single time and everything. And I think we'll hear it again during our CEOs webcast tomorrow. I mean, it's just so what we do so much more as safety is as well. And if you don't, if you give me a little bit of an indulgence here, I want to just give a shout out to not only our executive leadership team, our CCO, Tanya Jaeger DeForest, our CEO Jim Zali and their leadership in this way. And I also want to give a shout out to a recently retired colleague of mine who was really just instrumental in helping to build this. He was instrumental in help building the safety culture many years ago, Ron McCremen. But when I started at Ingredion, Ron was really great at saying, this is how you want to start building the integrated part of integrity as a part of what you do. And we talked about this and he really kind of gave me those ideas that now we talk about safety and integrity more or less together. Right? I mean, people don't think it's just something legal people do over here and it's like compliance. It's really a part of what we do and it's really built into our DNA now. And I really am grateful to the leadership and guidance of our executive leaders and our incredible teams that have helped to shape it. And I think you now see it in everything that we do.
[00:15:12] Speaker A: Well, I love every single word of what you just said. I think it's just absolutely fantastic. And it brings me to the last question I have for you, which is about how ingredient is an 11 time world's most Ethical Companies honoree. And as you just mentioned, clearly business integrity is something that your entire organization holds dear as part of its larger business strategy. And you know as well as anybody that the only thing harder than earning World's Most Ethical Companies honors is doing it 11 times. So maintaining your program at that high level requires its own dedication too.
Can you talk about how the World's Most Ethical Companies program plays a role not just informing your business integrity strategy, but how that rolls up to ingredion's overall business strategy?
[00:15:52] Speaker B: Absolutely.
Well, first thing that we do is we want to know how other companies do this, right? So we look at benchmarking, we look at other WME companies, we look at other ME companies in our category, right? We want to understand, you know, how we can get better. And we always try to match what we do to not only what they do, but to go one step beyond and how can we do that? Right? And maybe we can't always do it in the same year, but it's always on the plan, right? And we always want to think about that. That's the one thing. And then the other thing that we talk about is how can we add value. And I just had a conversation with my colleague in Brazil on Friday about we want to do X, Y and Z. So we're one thing that we talked about that we actually had to suspend with COVID but now we're going to bring it back is having these regular talks, go to the plants and have regular talks with people. We're going to start that process in South America, starting in Brazil. And we were, and we were just talking about, well, how do we do that, you know, and what can we do? Because we want to have people to feel, you know, Chatham House rules. Just talk to us, tell us what's going on. And we want to have that physical presence so that people feel that they can speak up, ask questions. Where are things not matching up with what we do and say? I mean, that's how you start to innovate and that's also how you understand how you add value to the business strategy. Right? So one of the things we talked about is how do we make things easier, faster, cleaner, more clear for people? Do we want people to spend another hour in training or can we give a quick hit and some tools and resources? How can we innovate? Can we use AI to help us? This is what we do. Because what we want to do is we want to add that value in and we want to do it in a way that helps people feel like it's part of their day to day, but they're not being banged over the head or they have to take a lot of time offline because you're not adding value that way. You just become another, oh my God, I got this to do and that to do. And you don't want to do that. You want to feel like at the end of the day that you've added some value and you. And people feel like even if it's just I need to ask more questions or oh, I wasn't aware of that. Where can I find this? So we're always looking at what are our resources and how can we make these resources easier to access clearer?
For example, we've taken nine page policies and put them down into one or two pages.
Now we're looking at can we do apps? Can we do something with AI? Can we do something that makes it easier for people to get the information they need so they can access the information they need to do their jobs Right. That's how you start to add value to the organization on the day to day and then it ultimately rolls up into things like this and we can talk about how everyone can understand what integrity is at a very elemental level without feeling like they have to be an expert in everything.
So, and that's what I always say with every one of my lunch and learns that. I do say, I don't expect you to be an expert on anything I'm talking about, but I do want you to walk away with, oh, I know I can call Kim about this, or oh, I know the access point is here.
That's all I need. We don't, we don't need people to be experts and everything. We just need people know how to get the information they need to do their jobs more effectively.
[00:19:02] Speaker A: Well Kimberly, we really appreciate you coming back on the show to share your insights about the terrific work you're doing at Ingredion. So again, thank you so much for joining us.
[00:19:10] Speaker B: Thank you for this opportunity and thank you to Ethisphere. Oh I did want to give one more shout out Bill, if you just give me of one hormone of indulgence. I wanted to say a special thank you to Erica Salmon Byrne because she was one of our keynote speakers at Integrity Week last week last year and it was fabulous. It was well attended in Asia Pacific and rest of the world and it was about ethical culture and how important ethics is and matters and she got some great questions and got a lot of great dialogue going afterwards. So I wanted to give a big thank you to Ethisphere and big thank you to Erica for just launching that conversation. But again, that was one of the pieces that really gets people into the how and integrates it into our business. And we are very grateful for that support and very grateful for her participation. So I wanted to give that shout out to her as well.
[00:19:59] Speaker A: To learn more about what Kimberly and her team are accomplishing, please visit ingredion.com and mouse over the Our Company dropdown on the upper right corner of the page.
There you'll find a link to ingredion's Business Integrity, Ethics and Compliance page, which is really worth spending some time on. It includes an integrity message from Ingredion CEO Jim Zali in 10 different languages, no less Ingredion's code of conduct, its supplier Code of Conduct, and a Speak up link. And we just love to see a great ethics and compliance page.
Earlier this year, Ingredion earned World's Most Ethical Companies honors for an 11th time, exemplifying their long term commitment to sustainable business excellence through integrity. The application window for the 2026 World's Most Ethical Companies is open now until October 30, 8pm Eastern Time. Begin your application today at worldsmostethicalcompanies.com if you'd like to appear as a guest on this program to share an ethics and compliance best practice for success story, drop us a
[email protected] Ethicast thanks for joining us. We hope you've enjoyed the show. For new episodes each week, be sure to subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. And if you don't mind, please share us with a colleague. It really helps out. That's all for now, but until next time, remember, strong ethics is good business.
