How The Bama Cos.' Paula Marshall built a global operation

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How The Bama Cos.’ Paula Marshall built a global operation

23 May 2025

Joanie Spencer

Since 2008, Joanie Spencer has covered the retail and wholesale sides of the baking industry.
Serving associations such as the American Society of Baking (ASB) and BEMA, Joanie is also in demand as an industry presenter on bakery operations and trends. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Rockhurst University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

When she’s not running or playing soccer, Joanie spends her time with her husband and 11-year-old son.

KANSAS CITY, MO — Life has a funny way of giving gifts that are packaged as challenges. For Paula Marshall, CEO of Tulsa, OK-based The Bama Cos., everything is a gift if one has faith … and the courage to dig deep enough to find it.

As a granddaughter of Cornelia Alabama “Bama” Marshall — Bama Cos.’ matriarch and co-founder — Marshall has the proverbial flour running through her veins. Her grit, determination and unwavering high standards are inherent in her DNA as well.

“My dad nicknamed me ‘Bama Two,’” Marshall recalled. “He saw characteristics like determination and [my grandmother’s] work ethic in me. Those were the things he loved about his mom, and he loved seeing me exhibit them in the plant. I’ve heard so many stories about her, and from what I hear, I think I carry on a lot of her traits. What she stood for are the things I stand for too, though maybe in different ways.”

Life changes steered Marshall down a path that led her to work in the bakery instead of traveling the world and learning about new cultures, as she’d once dreamed of doing when she was younger.

“You dream of things when you’re 16 or 17, and then life changes,” she said. “But I look back now, and I see divine intervention.”

In Marshall’s career, the turning points are where she leaves her mark.

The opportunity to step into leadership of the business came sooner than she’d expected. In truth, it may be more accurate to say it was unexpected. But Marshall’s grit comes from treating challenges not as something to push back on but something to face head-on, and when thrown toward the top of the ladder, she landed on her feet.

“That’s how it is for me,” she said. “I try to tell people I work with or mentor that you have to take every assignment. You can’t just pick and choose because you’ll never know if you chose the right thing.”

That mentality came in handy as she dabbled in nearly every aspect of the business, from operations to sales. The company — which is known for being McDonald’s first pie manufacturer — also dabbled in different business markets including retail CPG. Marshall learned through experience that taking every project doesn’t mean keeping every project. Oftentimes, it simply provides the context for knowing which jobs are the right ones for the business.

Although pie production is highly specialized, the core competency — high-speed dough production — lends itself to creating a diverse lineup of other baked goods. Identifying that led to Marshall’s first sales pivot: selling off the CPG business and diversifying production of dough-based items.

“We’re seeing innovation coming from customer input around what they want to see coming off the lines.” — Paula Marshall | CEO | The Bama Cos.

“In 1997, we had an opportunity to delve into frozen dough for pizza, and it became my account,” she said. “I knew it had potential to really grow the business, and I told my dad we just needed the capital and the space to build.”

Room for growth

From there, Marshall has taken Bama Cos. from high-speed pie production to one of the most highly rated bakery suppliers to the QSR market, both domestically and abroad, for customers including McDonald’s, the Yum! Brands portfolio and more.

Identifying new opportunities based on operational excellence is where growth begins, but maintaining relationships is how the business lasts. In foodservice, relationships are the brand.

“To be a good partner, there has to be a relationship,” Marshall said. “Everything’s built around a four-, five-, six-year relationship. And within that, we’ll spend time developing new products, talking about different things we can make, investing in new ingredients, efficiency gains or even entire production lines. It’s a trusted relationship that builds those types of discussions.”

Steering away from retail and leaning into foodservice was not only pivotal in Bama’s growth and expansion, but it also illuminated ways Marshall and her teams have been able to innovate with the customer base.

“Making product and packaging it in beautiful boxes for retail shelves is difficult to execute,” Marshall said. “In my business, we’re putting frozen products in a box — we’re talking 50,000 to 75,000 pies an hour — and shipping it to an end customer who can then bake it. These are the companies that are growing.”

Over the years, Marshall has seen several iterations of apple pie innovation, ranging from the baked pie of the ’90s to the more modern lattice-topped pies with larger fruit chunks. Above all, demand for clean-label products has driven innovation that could not be achieved without trust and open dialogue between Bama and its customers.

This story has been adapted from the April | Q2 2025 issue of Commercial Baking. Read the full story in the digital edition here.