In 1984, Stewart Thompson pioneered the idea to create small personalized sugar packets which would allow the independent to portray the same image as a large multi-national corporation. As co-founder of Europe's largest single portion supplier, Stewart's company Single Service would ultimately become the sole supplier in the U.K. to Mc'Donalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and thousands of other pubs, restaurants, and hotels. In 1995, H.J. Heinz acquired Single Service. In June of 1999, Stewart formed Sugar Stix, Inc. in Orlando, Florida where over half a millon dollars was invested in equipment. Sugar Stix, Inc. prints all of its packaging materials with latest state-of-the-art four color printing press. It is the intention of Sugar Stix to be as big in the United States as Single Service was in the U.K.