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Carmel-based Heartland Food Products Group, which manufactures the Splenda brand of low-calorie sweeteners, has agreed to acquire the struggling Slimfast US brand, the company announced Wednesday.
Heartland will pay an undisclosed price to Irish-based nutrition supplement maker Glanbia for Slimfast. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions.
Slimfast, founded in 1977, is known for its once-popular line of meal-replacement shakes, drink powders and snack bars, with sales in the hundreds of millions of dollars in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Corporate giant Unilever paid $2.3 billion to acquire the company in 2000.
But heavy competition from other weight-management food manufacturers quickly cut into Slimfast’s market share. Glanbia bought SlimFast for $350 million in 2018 and saw sales fall dramatically in recent years with the emergence of new weight-loss pharmaceuticals.
Glanbia took a $91.4 million impairment charge in 2024 due to SlimFast’s declining sales, according to Reuters, and decided to divest the brand in the United States.
Heartland said the acquisition is a good fit for the company, which has owned Splenda since 2015. Splenda is the most commonly-used sugar substitute in the United States, well ahead of competitors Sweet’N Low and Equal. Heartland also makes drink mixes, coffee, creamers, beverage concentrates and nutritional beverages under the Splenda name.
“The addition of Slimfast to the Heartland family, alongside our Splenda brand, reinforces our commitment to helping consumers live healthier, more balanced lives,” Ted Gelov, Heartland chairman and CEO, said in written remarks. “Both brands share a common purpose, empowering people to make better choices without sacrificing taste or enjoyment. Together, we can deliver trusted solutions in weight management and sugar reduction, two of the biggest consumer needs shaping the future of nutrition.”
Heartland also owns Java House, a cold brew coffee product that debuted in 2018. The company employs more than 1,200 people in the United States, Mexico, Colombia and the Netherlands. In addition to its corporate office in Carmel, the company operates manufacturing and distribution facilities on the northwest side of Indianapolis.
The privately held company does not disclose financials, but it makes 13 billion packets of Splenda per year, Gelov told IBJ in late 2024.
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