Heartland Food Products Group is a Carmel, Indiana–based consumer packaged goods company focused on sugar reduction, better-for-you beverages, and wellness-oriented food products. The company develops, manufactures, and markets low- and no-calorie sweeteners, liquid water enhancers, coffee products, creamers, beverage concentrates, nutritional beverages, and related private-label offerings.
Our best-known brand is Splenda®, and our portfolio also includes Java House® cold brew coffee and SlimFast®. Heartland serves retail, foodservice, e-commerce, business-to-business, contract-manufacturing, and private-label channels, with products distributed internationally across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.
In May 2026, Heartland announced a definitive agreement to acquire Whole Earth Brands’ Americas business, which includes the Equal®, Whole Earth®, Swerve®, and Chuker® brands. The acquisition expands Heartland’s sweetener and wellness portfolio across North America and Latin America.
Brand Strategy Manager
Heartland Food Products Group is seeking experienced, strategic, Senior Brand Managers to lead key consumer food and beverage categories. This role offers the opportunity to shape brand strategy, innovation, commercial execution, and long-term category growth.
Senior Brand Managers support category groups:
- Sweeteners: Splenda, Equal, Whole Earth, and Swerve
- Nutrition, Coffee & Ready-to-Drink: SlimFast, Java House, and Ready-to-Drink categories
Position Summary
The Brand Manager will own the development and execution of brand and category strategies that drive sustainable growth. This role will partner closely with Sales, Insights, Innovation, Finance, Operations, and external partners to translate consumer and customer needs into actionable plans. Reports directly to Senior Brand Strategy Manager for the category.
The ideal candidate combines strong consumer brand strategy experience with commercial acumen, and the ability to partner effectively with Sales in customer-facing settings.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead brand strategy, annual planning, and execution for assigned brands and categories.
- Develop and implement consumer-led marketing, positioning, innovation, packaging, and activation strategies.
- Use consumer, customer, category, and competitive insights to identify growth opportunities and inform decisions.
- Partner with Sales to develop customer strategies, selling stories, presentations, and commercial plans.
- Present to customers as a strategic partner alongside the Sales team, when needed.
- Collaborate cross-functionally to bring programs, innovation, and go-to-market initiatives to market successfully.
- Monitor business performance and adjust strategy to achieve financial and brand objectives.
- Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders and external agency partners.
Qualifications
- Minimum bachelor’s degree and 5 years of brand strategy experience within consumer food products.
- Experience in sweeteners, nutrition, coffee, beverages, or ready-to-drink consumer categories.
- Prior Sales experience or a proven track record of partnering with Sales and presenting directly to customers.
- Strong understanding of consumer-packaged goods, category management, and brand-building principles.
- Ability to synthesize data and insights into clear, actionable growth strategies.
- Excellent communication, presentation, collaboration, and leadership skills.
This role is 100% in office at our Carmel, Indiana Corporate headquarters.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree
- At least 5 years of brand strategy experience within consumer food products
- Experience in sweeteners, nutrition, coffee, beverages, or ready-to-drink consumer categories
- Prior Sales experience or demonstrated success partnering with Sales and presenting directly to customers
- Strong understanding of consumer-packaged goods, category management, and brand-building principles
- Ability to synthesize data and insights into actionable growth strategies
- Excellent communication, presentation, collaboration, and leadership skills
What We Do
Heartland Food Products Group is a global leader in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, producing low-calorie sweeteners, coffee, coffee creamers and liquid water enhancers. Simply put, we make coffee, tea and water taste better. 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. And we’re leading the charge in the quickly emerging cold brew coffee category with JAVA HOUSE® Authentic Cold Brew Coffee, our 100% authentic cold brew handcrafted in small batches. In addition, we are the leading provider of private label sweeteners and liquid water enhancers in the U.S. Our products are distributed throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. We employ over 1,200 people worldwide.
