Michael L.

Michael L. is currently working as the Director of Procurement - Commodities, Packaging and Ingredients at Aspire Bakeries. In this role, they lead a team of eight category managers and is responsible for managing $720 million worth of commodities, ingredients, and packaging. Michael'scurrent focus is on optimizing hedged positions to align with business objectives. Prior to this, Michael worked as a Supply Chain Manager at Sauer Brands, Inc. from August 2020 to October 2021.

Before joining Sauer Brands, Michael served as the President/Owner of One Eleven Trading LLC, a food ingredients business specializing in importing and selling vegetable starches, proteins, collagen peptides, and other food ingredients. Michael also managed the dry blending of commercial bakery mixes and contract blending and packing for various retail projects.

Earlier in their career, Michael held the role of Purchasing Director at Puratos, where they managed the commodity purchasing for bakery and distribution with a spend of over $100 million. Michael also worked on projects involving new ingredients and supply chain changes.

Prior to Puratos, they worked as an Account Executive - Agricultural Commodities at SolArc, where they provided trade capture and risk management software solutions to customers such as United Airlines, Tyson Foods, Northwest Airlines, and Southwest Airlines.

Michael has also held positions as the Director of Purchasing at Harlan Bakeries and as a Commercial/Purchasing Manager at Mars Snackfoods, USA, a division of Mars Inc. where they worked from 1988 to 2004.

Michael L. received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics with a minor in Business from Northwestern University in 1997. In 2002, they attended UCLA to study screenwriting, but it is unclear whether they completed a degree. Michael also completed an Executive Supply Chain Course at Michigan State University - Eli Broad College of Business, although the dates are unknown. Additionally, they obtained a certification in CPM from ISM in 2004.