Heartland Food Products Group To Expand Zero-Calorie Private Label Offering

By Karla Paris

New plant expansion adds new technology and process improvements that bring its products into new markets

A report issued recently by Zenith International estimates that liquid water enhancer consumption grew by 85 percent last year. By the end of 2013, the U.S. market was worth $412 million. While brands from Kraft Foods Group hold a large portion of market share, they are followed closely by several private labels. Enter Heartland Food Products Group. 

Heartland Food Products Group, one of the world's leading producers and marketers of drink mixes and zero calorie sweeteners for consumer markets announced its expansion in the beverage category by making a substantial investment in its Indianapolis state of the art manufacturing plant.

By investing in new technology and process, Heartland provides concept-to-customer solutions in the private label beverage category. This new expansion will also create more than 150 jobs over the next four years. Ted Gelov, CEO of Heartland Food, noted in a press release that the substantial investments in both technology and people are driving success for Heartland and its private label partners by improving product quality, increasing the company’s speed to market, and improving customer partnership into new markets.

Heartland believes that given the explosive growth in the U.S. of household penetration for water and other drink enhancer products, the category will continue to grow quickly over the next few years. The report issued by Zenith also concludes that the international market is the next big market with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and China offering the greatest prospect for liquid water enhancers.  

In the near future, Heartland plans to expand its capability to include new versions, flavors, and packaging options. Currently, Heartland’s water enhancer brand, Go Splash, comes in three varieties including: Vive, Energy, and Sport.  Vive flavors all include B vitamins and come in a wide variety of flavors. Energy flavors all include 50 mg of caffeine per 2 ml serving plus other energizing ingredients and are available in several flavors.  Sport flavors contain replenishing electrolytes for the active athlete and come in several flavors.