Crown Bakeries, a manufacturer of fresh and frozen croissants, buns, bagels, biscuits, English muffins, sweet goods, and other baked products led by three Baking Hall of Fame members, has named Doug Bame chief operating officer (COO) and Kory Mickelson chief commercial officer (CCO). Both will report to Crown Bakeries President Yianny Caparos.

Doug Bame, COO

Bame brings nearly 30 years of experience in engineering and manufacturing excellence in food to Crown, having most recently served as Vice President of Operations at Hormel Foods. His previous leadership roles included Vice President of Manufacturing and Corporate Director of Engineering for Columbus Craft Meats where he worked alongside Crown Bakeries’ private equity partner, Arbor Investments.

“I am thrilled to have a person of Doug’s caliber on our leadership team,” states Caparos. “He understands and possesses the level of focus and discipline required to implement the tremendous growth Crown has achieved over the last three years – and he’s ready to help further strengthen our operations. Doug’s fresh perspective–coming from outside the baking industry–will help the Crown team continue to grow profitably and lead the baking industry.”

Kory Mickelson, CCO

Mickelson officially joined Crown Bakeries in December, having most recently served as CCO at CraftMark Bakery. He brings considerable experience leading highly effective sales teams in the baking industry, with previous sales leadership roles at Aryzta and Sara Lee.

“My brother and I have known Kory for years, and his experience leading high-performing sales teams is invaluable to Crown,” says Caparos. “Kory understands the needs of customers, and his approach aligns with Crown’s culture to treat customers like royalty. He’s had an immediate impact at Crown and we’re excited for his leadership as we continue to strategically grow our production capacity.”

Commenting on the additions, Arbor Partner Chris Tuffin says, “We’re thrilled to add exceptional senior talent to the Crown leadership team. Doug is a proven talent to Arbor with deep operational expertise and a unique blend of experience at large food companies and entrepreneurial, fast-growing companies like Columbus. Kory has developed a wide range of relationships during his career in the bakery category that are complementary to Crown’s business today. Both fit perfectly with Crown’s customer-first mindset and will be critical in helping drive our next phase of growth.”