How Ingredion Brazil cut SMETA Audit Preparation in Half with Sunhat

The Situation

Sustainability at Ingredion, Brazil Edition

Ingredion has built sustainability into the core of its global operations. As covered in this Story from Ingredion, the corporate sustainability team uses Sunhat as the central Collaborative Proof Platform for ratings such as EcoVadis and CDP, for customer questionnaires, and for an expanding list of reporting and assessment projects across the group.

Brazil operates with a country-led model of sustainability within the LATAM region. Ingredion’s Kathleen Marconi, Corporate Sustainability Country Lead, covers the full Brazilian scope: SMETA audits across the production plants, site-level EcoVadis assessments, customer sustainability questionnaires, and the local sustainability report.

The workload curve has steepened sharply. Requests from customers for sustainability data have steadily increased over the years, demonstrating the market's strong connection to the search for sustainable solutions backed by concrete actions. EcoVadis assessments shifted from one country-level questionnaire to site-level questionnaires per plant. SMETA cycles now run every two years rather than every three. The sustainability work expands massively. The team headcount did not.

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The Challenge

Organizing SMETA Evidence across Plants, Areas, and Document Owners

Each SMETA audit at Ingredion is built on a structured evidence list that covers around 140 line items, with a wider sample of roughly 150 documents to draw from. Before Sunhat, this list was stored in an Excel spreadsheet, and the supporting evidence was kept in folders organized by department, with separate spaces for HR, EHS, and other functions. Several types of documents, such as the grievance mechanism, naturally belong to multiple areas, which made searching slow during the audit itself.

When two audits had to be prepared remotely, coordination across plants and areas became significantly more time-consuming. Preparing well took roughly two months, and the country lead carried most of the manual coordination work. As regulatory expectations and the volume of customer questionnaires kept growing, it was clear that this setup would limit how much the team could take on next.

The Sunhat Moment

One Proof Library, Shared Ownership, Audits That Run in Order

Ingredion Brazil rolled out Sunhat plant by plant. SMETA focal points and area managers were trained on the platform, and full plant teams of around 20 people came on board shortly after. From that point, each focal point took ownership of their own evidence. They assign responsibilities for every SMETA line item, upload directly into the Proof Library, and use in-platform chat for clarifications.

Proof that applies across audits, such as policies, code of conduct, and grievance mechanism, carries forward automatically. Each new cycle can now start with a clear view of what is already covered and what needs an update. Automated reminders from Sunhat replace manual follow-up, so the country lead no longer has to chase every contributor by email.

During the audit, Sunhat follows the same order as the SMETA evidence list. The auditor can work through the platform item by item, and view sources, owners, and timestamps visible alongside every answer. As a result, the audit week runs noticeably more efficiently, with evidence ready in one place and no document chasing along the way.

"The auditor said to us, 'You guys are so organized with your documents!'"

Kathleen Marconi, Corporate Sustainability Country Lead - Brazil

Proof AI handles the layered document reality at Ingredion. Global policies, Brazil-level documents, and site-specific proof all sit in the same platform, and the AI pulls the correct source into each answer. This is what makes responding to recurring customer questionnaires fast and consistent, even as volume keeps growing.

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The Results

Faster Audits, Stronger Evidence, and Capacity for What Matters Next

Centralizing SMETA in Sunhat changed how Ingredion Brazil prepares for, runs, and follows up on audits. The same approach now extends to EcoVadis and the growing customer questionnaire load.

The most tangible results are:

• SMETA preparation time cut from two months to two weeks: Focal points upload evidence directly. Automated reminders replace email follow-up. Reusable documents carry over from previous cycles.
• Audit week itself runs faster: Proof sits in Sunhat in the order of the SMETA list, so the audit week moves along without document chasing or parallel folder navigation.
• Non-conformities down sharply: With proof organized in one place, audit results have improved meaningfully across the audited plants.
• EcoVadis preparation started a month earlier: Time saved on SMETA freed up November for the EcoVadis questionnaire that was originally scheduled for after the December audits.
• Customer questionnaire growth absorbed without new hires: As customer demand for sustainability data continues to grow, Proof AI helps the team answer recurring questions quickly and consistently.

"I am 100% sure that if it were not for Sunhat, we would need three more people on the team just to manage all of this. We went from one audit to three audits a year, from one EcoVadis questionnaire to three, and customer questionnaires have grown sharply year over year. The only way to run this from Brazil with a small team is with Sunhat."

‍Kathleen Marconi, Corporate Sustainability Country Lead - Brazil