Splenda Stevia Farms: A New American Industry

American family farmers are dreamers. They’re do-ers, too, of course. Nobody works harder than farmers. But in the world of modern agriculture, it’s getting harder and harder for Mom and Pop farms — the backbone America was built on — to get ahead.

Enter Heartland Food Products Group, makers of Splenda brand sweeteners and many other products that help make it easier to reduce sugar intake.

What does Splenda have to do with farming? Sweeteners like monk fruit and stevia are plant-based — they’re just not sugar. And those plants are grown on farms.

Historically, stevia hasn’t been an American crop. It’s almost all from other countries, primarily China. If you notice the American flag motif in some versions of the Splenda logo, you probably understand Heartland is an America-first company. Chairman and CEO Ted Gelov put his money where his mouth is to establish the nation’s first stevia farm in central Florida.

Even better, the Florida location is just a mother farm — that’s where Heartland will grow the millions of stevia plants needed to fulfill the ultimate vision: Partnering with small American family farms to grow that crop.