Flowers Foods names Bret Hathaway as procurement VP
Bret Hathaway has been promoted to vice president of procurement and commodities at Flowers Foods, succeeding Miles Dennis, who retired after 41 years.
USA – Flowers Foods, Inc., one of America’s largest bakery companies known for brands like Nature’s Own and Dave’s Killer Bread, has promoted Bret Hathaway to Vice President of Procurement, Commodities, effective immediately.
Hathaway succeeds Miles Dennis, who retired after 41 years with the company, and will lead Flowers’ commodities sourcing, risk management and procurement strategy across its bakery operations.
Hathaway joined Flowers in 2022 as senior director, commodities and risk management, a role in which he helped shape the company’s approach to agricultural sourcing and price‑risk mitigation.
Before Flowers, he led the global commodities and risk management team at Lamb Weston, and earlier held multiple procurement and risk roles at Conagra Brands, giving him broad experience across grain and ingredient markets that Flowers says will be critical as the company navigates volatile commodity cycles and supply‑chain pressures.
Hathaway received an associate of agriculture degree in agricultural technology, a bachelor’s degree in agriculture and applied economics, an agribusiness management degree, and a master’s degree in agricultural and applied economics, all from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.
Additionally, Hathaway holds a Series 3 Commodities License from the National Futures Association, underscoring his qualifications for managing futures and hedging programs on behalf of a large food manufacturer.
The leadership change is framed as part of Flowers’ ongoing effort to strengthen procurement governance and resilience amid fluctuating input costs and global supply‑chain disruptions.
Dennis retired Jan. 31 as vice president, procurement, commodities. He began his career in an auditing role, first as a staff auditor in 1984.
After a promotion to senior auditor, he transitioned to plant accounting as assistant controller at Atlanta Baking Co., the largest Flowers baking plant at the time.
He was given his first procurement role in 1991 and held a variety of roles with increasing levels of responsibility before joining the team that designed, built, and deployed the company’s first version of SAP.
Dennis returned to procurement in 2003, serving as director and senior director of procurement, ingredients, before being promoted in 2014 to vice president, procurement, commodities.
During his career, he served as co-chair of the NextGenBakers (formerly Executive Leadership Development) committee of the American Bakers Association and on the ABA Commodity Ag Policy Committee (CAPC).
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