Within the Specialty Food Ingredients segment, volume and sales grew compared with the first quarter of the previous year. A weaker performance from Europe offset overall volume growth in the United States and emerging markets. First-quarter sucralose volumes were lower, primarily because of difficult market conditions in Europe.
Within the Bulk Ingredients segment, operating profit was above expectations. A strong performance from liquid sweeteners in the United States and Europe more than offset challenging conditions in U.S. ethanol and more normal co-product returns, which followed strong performance in the first quarter last year.
