A Q&A with Luke Rincker
The entirety of the Green Field Solutions staff — from our scientists to our sales team to our expert problem solvers — represents the industry’s corps d’elite. You might say we’ve got the OGs of repurposing with purpose, the legends of landfill diversion, the bosses of by-product reclamation, the vanguards of adding value, and the GOATs of garbage past.
Without further ado, meet one of our avid contributors to that lengthy list of commendations — Luke Rincker. As GFS’s Director of Corporate Sales, he brings a wealth of institutional knowledge, having worked for each one of The International Companies’ three sister companies — International Ingredient Corporation (IIC) and International Food Products Corporation (IFPC) and Green Field Solutions (GFS). His interesting amalgamation of farm-life, AG economics and agri-procurement gives him a great perspective and makes him an even greater resource for the businesses we work with.
Luke, tell us about yourself.
I’ve been in agriculture my whole life. I grew up in Central Illinois on a family farm, where we grew row crops and raised beef cattle. My farm upbringing led me to the University of Illinois’ agricultural accounting program. The program teaches the same principles as the regular accounting majors learn in the business school, except instead of classes like global macroeconomics, I took the macro economics of agribusiness. In 2023, I also got my EMBA from Washington University in St. Louis.
My first career job was with Cargill. After interning with them in their beef division, I was hired as a staff accountant in their grain division. In 2017, a recruiter reached out to me, and that’s how I came to The International Companies. I was hired on as the organization’s first business analyst, crunching numbers and analyzing data sets to help guide the company’s decision making. I transitioned from a business analyst to a category buyer for corn sweeteners and then cocoa for IFPC, followed by taking over a leadership role as Director of Procurement with a focus on all of IFPCs globally sourced materials.
It’s been a really fun journey within the food industry.
What does your background in AG bring to the table?
I believe that my AG background is certainly helpful. Having a shared experience means I can identify with the challenges our clients face from a similar perspective. Growing up on a farm was a great way to learn market dynamics, as well as how efficient operations lead to sustainable profits and production. My background and education in agriculture has helped instill my curiosity and desire to not only problem solve but also look for improvements.
My experience, however, is just one part of Green Field Solutions’ extensive institutional knowledge across the entire food supply chain, from people food to animal feed. And that is really valuable. Collectively, we understand our clients’ pain points, and we can help them get answers to their questions and find solutions to the challenges they bring to us. For the same reason, we are able to bring to light potential challenges they may not have considered. As a result, GFS is able to offer safeguards and solutions before latent issues become real problems.
How do you see the industry changing?
One thing that always seems to be in flux is the industry’s prioritization of value and service. I think of it as a pendulum. It used to be that relationships always won. Then, it felt like it swung to a time when companies cared less about the relationship as long as you delivered the bottom line. I see the pendulum closer to the middle, now. But no matter which direction that bob has swung, our focus at GFS remains as much on delivering long-term value as it is providing exceptional customer service.
We’re looking to do this together, which means helping clients optimize the management of waste materials AND helping them tell their sustainability story AND helping them make sense of cumbersome data AND answering every time they call. It’s value AND service.
What is something you see as steadfast in the industry?
One thing that has not changed is the problem itself. The United States has been making food for a very long time, right? And as a result, manufacturers have had to manage their waste streams for a very long time. That does not mean, however, that there aren’t better solutions than there were a very long time ago or even a very short time ago. By better, I mean more economical and sustainable for everyone, including the food manufacturers, the communities they operate in, as well as the farmers and their livestock.
Going back to my corn sweetener days as an example… Repurposing corn by-products into animal feed ingredients has been around for decades. It’s not a new problem needing to be solved. Instead, we continue to challenge our preconceived notions and make sure that our assumptions are still correct. Because there very well might be a new way or a more sustainable way or more profitable way to manage food waste.
What does the Corporate Sales role bring to the GFS team?
The corporate sales role helps GFS understand what our clients at the corporate level are dealing with — their challenges, objectives and opportunities. Whether those are related to keeping their facilities operational, setting sustainability goals or contextualizing data, my job is to present solutions specific to their perspective.
The commercial managers on the other hand are really the solutions drivers. They are the boots on the ground. They are visiting each facility, analyzing each waste stream and then facilitating where that waste should go and how to do it in the best possible way.
We work in tandem and in parallel to bridge the goals and objectives set by a company’s corporate team with the reality of what is happening at the plant level. We are liaisons who can offer unparalleled visibility between the two.
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Luke Rincker
Luke Rincker is the Director of Corporate Sales for Green Field Solutions. His farm upbringing led him to the University of Illinois’ agricultural accounting program and later Washington University in St. Louis’ EMBA program. His journey through the food industry includes farm life, agricultural accountant, data analyst, category manager, as well as leadership roles in procurement and sales.
