Supporting consumers’ preferences for clean & simple products, the Company is advancing its growth strategy by enhancing its global capabilities and expanding its rice production in Thailand
Ingredion Incorporated has announced the completion of its rice manufacturing expansion in Banglen, Thailand.
The expansion is part of Ingredion’s ongoing investment strategy to support customers globally through the growth of its speciality food ingredients business. The development will significantly increase the company’s rice capabilities, enabling Ingredion to support customers with consumer-preferred clean and simple innovations and a broad portfolio of functional rice-based ingredients in EMEA.
“A simple, recognisable store cupboard product, rice continues to be an on-trend ingredient base,” said Constantin Drapatz, Senior Marketing Manager, Clean and Simple Food Ingredients, EMEA. “Used in a variety of applications including baby food, ready meals and dairy products, our proprietary consumer insights program revealed rice flour to be one of the top three accepted texturing ingredients across Europe. Its unique creamy texture combined with its functionality and hypoallergenic properties makes it ideal for a variety of uses.
“With the additional capacity created in our facility in Thailand, we can support our customers to leverage our broad range of functional native rice solutions on a large scale. Manufacturers across EMEA will be able to create delicious clean label food products with a consumer-preferred ‘rice flour’ label.”
In addition to processing regular rice-based products, the facility has also enabled the development of multi-functional waxy rice flours which deliver smooth and creamy textures, with moderate to high process tolerance and offer superior stability in ambient, refrigerated and freeze/thaw conditions. These innovative products complement the Company’s functional native clean label portfolio, providing customers with choices that best meet their processes, recipes, desired sensory experiences and consumer preferences.
“Thailand is one of the largest exporters of rice globally with around 16 million of the population employed in rice farming. We are upgrading and expanding our capabilities right at the heart of rice cultivation and processing, letting us combine the local know-how and experience with our own clean label expertise. This unique position will enable us to fast-track our customers’ growth projects in the clean and simple space,” added Rishan Pillay, Vice President and General Manager for ASEAN and India.
