ABOUT US
SWEET HEALTHY LIVING
We make coffee, tea, and water taste better while reducing sugar
To learn more about our brands, visit our brand websites.
About Us
Heartland Food Products Group is a global leader in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, producing low-calorie sweeteners and liquid water enhancers. Simply put, we make coffee, tea and water taste better. Our sweeteners are also great for baking and sprinkling! From peanut butter cookies to banana bread, low-calorie sweetness starts with Splenda®. Start your day with coffee, fruit, and oatmeal sweetened with delicious, low-calorie products made by Heartland.
Our portfolio includes a variety of branded, licensed, and private label products within multiple categories. We also provide strategic co-manufactured partnerships with many category leaders.
On the branded side of the business, we manufacture and market Splenda, the #1 brand in the low-calorie sweetener (LCS) category and the most recognizable in the world. Since the acquisition of the Splenda Brand in 2015, Heartland has launched plant based sweeteners including Splenda Stevia Sweeteners and Splenda Monk Fruit Sweeteners, Splenda Allulose Sweeteners, Splenda Liquid Sweeteners, Splenda Coffee Creamers, Splenda Diabetes Care Shakes, Splenda Sweet Teas, and more. To learn more about Splenda, visit https://www.splenda.com/.
More recently, we launched Java House Coffee. Our amazingly smooth cold brew coffee is made in small batches in our Indianapolis manufacturing facilities by steeping coffee in cold water for 12 hours or more. Java House makes it easier than ever before to enjoy a delicious cup of coffee at home and on the go. With Java House Coffee liquid pods, just peel, pour, and enjoy! Each single serve liquid pod combines with 6-8 ounces of water, hot or cold, for the perfect coffee. There’s no need to brew. Now you can enjoy a coffeehouse experience anywhere! Java House also offers many more beverage concentrates and ready-to-drink solutions. Plus there are now several Java House Cafes around greater Indianapolis to experience it.
Beyond our brands, we are the leading provider of private label sweeteners and liquid water enhancers in the U.S.
Our fast-growing team of product, packaging, and process innovators helps retailers, foodservice operators, and brand owners create consumer-preferred products in a competitive, ever-changing market. Because we are a vertically-integrated company, Heartland is a one-stop shop that can execute every element from ideation to shelf, including Research & Development (R&D); market research; quality; packaging design/creative work through our in-house agency, The Workshop; manufacturing; distribution; and operations.
Read more about the core pillars of our company and culture: Fast, Flexible and Innovative. Click here to learn about the Heartland culture.
Heartland is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana, with additional offices in Bentonville, Arkansas; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Mexico City, Mexico; and Bogotá, Colombia. Our manufacturing facilities are located in Indianapolis, Indiana; Tultitlán, Mexico; and Amsterdam, Netherlands. Our products are distributed throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. We employ over 1,200 people worldwide.
Our History
1991-1994
Businessman and innovator Ted Gelov, a graduate of Purdue University, started his first business in October 1991, manufacturing plastic packaging and novelties in southern Indiana. The company evolved to producing small containers for the food industry and co-packing for larger food brands.
1995-2003
In 1995, the predecessor to Heartland Food Products Group developed its first proprietary product, a plastic disposable salt and pepper shaker set, becoming the leader in private label salt and pepper sets nationally. The company added other condiments through the years, including packets of salt, pepper and sugar as well as other seasoning and dry condiments for multiple channels of trade: grocery, mass, club, dollar, drug and foodservice.
2004-2010
In November 2004, Heartland was the first company to develop a private label sucralose sweetener to rival the fast-growing SPLENDA® Brand, and almost overnight, a new industry was born. The company grew to become the largest manufacturer of private label sucralose sweeteners. The company expanded to Europe, opening a manufacturing plant in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 2009 and began to sell sucralose-based sweeteners and other tabletop sweeteners, including stevia, aspartame and saccharine.
2011
In 2011, true to “Heartland speed,” the company was the first to market with a private label liquid water enhancer. The business expanded quickly in the U.S. and globally, and within three years, the company became the largest global producer of private label liquid water enhancers.
2012-2015
Between 2012 and 2015, Heartland expanded its Indianapolis plant and distribution facilities many times, including a 350,000-sq. ft. state-of-the-art distribution facility, an added spray dry plant complete with liquid blending and an aseptic packaging line to produce protein shakes, ready to drink coffee, liquid coffee creamers and other low acid shelf-stable products.
2015-2017
In October 2015, Heartland completed the transformative transaction of acquiring the SPLENDA® Brand from Johnson & Johnson. As a result of this purchase, Heartland is the global leader in all tabletop sweeteners through all channels of trade.
2018-2022
Heartland has continued to develop new low-calorie products including natural sweeteners – Splenda Stevia and Splenda Monk Fruit, Splenda Coffee Creamers, Splenda Diabetes Care Shakes, as well as branded and private label liquid water enhancers to help people live happier, healthier and longer lives by making it easier to reduce sugar. In 2021, Splenda was named consumers’ #1 trusted sweetener brand in a Reader’s Digest Survey, marking the third year in a row the well-known sugar substitute has received this honor.
QUALITY CERTIFICATIONS
Manufacturing high-quality products is core to our culture at Heartland. We have an exemplary food safety and quality record and are committed to improving the quality of our products and production facilities to meet the needs of consumers, retailers, manufacturing partners and regulatory agencies.
Certified SQF Quality Supplier
Safe Quality Food Institute: Global food safety and quality certification program, recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) 10 consecutive years
Organic Certified
Ecocert ICO: #1 inspection and certification body for sustainable development worldwide
Kosher Certified
Orthodox Union Kosher: World’s largest and most widely recognized kosher certification agency
Halal Certified
Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA): Leading Halal-certifying organization in the U.S.
GLOBAL REACH
FROM MAIN STREET USA TO REGIONS ACROSS THE WORLD
Whether it’s Latin America, Europe or Asia, we create and manufacture products that help people live healthier lives.