Reformulation surge prompts Ingredion to reassess how it does business

Food Dive reported the development on 2026-03-12. With more food companies wanting to add protein or create clean-label products, the 120-year-old ingredient supplier has to be more selective about which categories it participates in.

The report places the news in a wider commercial context. One of the country’s top ingredient suppliers is rethinking how it does business following unprecedented demand from food and beverage companies that want to reformulate their products to meet the latest consumer trends.

For the food sector, the practical implications extend beyond the immediate announcement. “It’s going to require companies like us to be more intimate than ever with customers,” said Jim Zallie, Ingredion’s CEO. “We love our customers, and we want to serve all customer categories if we could, but we can’t.”.

Attention now turns to how companies, customers and regulators respond. In determining how to partner with a food maker, Ingredion assesses whether its insight is aligned with current trends, Zallie said. The Illinois-based company also looks at what category the client plays in (private label or clean label are particularly attractive), how fast the business is growing and the impact the partnership would have on Ingredion’s sales and margins.