Lessons learned: Puratos exec reflects on 40-year career

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Lessons learned: Puratos exec reflects on 40-year career

9 Jan 2026

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.

PENNSAUKEN, NJ — At first glance, some might say Paul Bakus seems “too young” to retire as president of North America for Puratos. Then again, he’s put a lot of miles on the nearly 40-year journey in the food industry. In fact, there’s not a lot to eat that Bakus hasn’t sold.

In an exclusive interview with Commercial Baking, Bakus reflected on the high points and lessons learned in his time from 30 years at Nestle to almost a decade at Puratos.

Taking risks that reap rewards

The journey began in 1987 — when price tags preceded UPC codes — after Bakus graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in business and marketing. That’s when he joined Nestle’s Carnation business, selling brands including Coffee Mate, Carnation Evaporated Milk and Libby canned pumpkin, among many others.

An innate risk taker — whether on a motorcycle, a mountain bike or at the airport with a passport and no plan — he saw a jump from sales to marketing as the next big adventure.

“I’ve always encouraged people to take risks in their career,” Bakus said. “Do something completely new because you never know what’s going to be on the other side.”

That mentality guided this Southern California native’s transfer from Nestle’s US headquarters in Los Angeles to leading marketing for its Contadina Fresh pasta and sauce brand in Cleveland, OH.

The move was a risk, but it reaped rewards as he rose through the ranks and ultimately landed in a corporate role at Nestle’s global headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland.

Moments make the leader

With a belief that bad situations can still have good outcomes, Bakus is known to lock in for solutions.

When Nestle acquired Kraft’s pizza business with brands including DiGiorno and the California Pizza Kitchen license, Bakus began his long stint in the pizza manufacturing business. But it was during a time pizza had been named as a top source of sodium and calories in children’s diets, which led to a wave of health advocate backlash.

Bakus responded with flexibility, launching the concept of “thoughtful portions,” which can still be found on the back of packaging for Nestle’s pizza brands, as well as other food brands under its umbrella.

“We can’t control what people do, but at least I can say that I participated in being part of a solution,” he said, also noting efforts from R&D to reformulate pizza products with less sodium and saturated fat and lower calorie counts.

One of the biggest challenges of his career, though, came in 2009 with the Nestle Toll House refrigerated Cookie Dough recall, when a batch of dough was linked to E. coli through contaminated flour, which led to several illnesses and one death.

Bakus led the effort to not only pull every product from store shelves but also tirelessly search for the contamination source. And from a tragic situation came a huge turning point.

“I really took this personally,” he said. “People were hurt by a product I was responsible for. But from it, I became a safety zealot. Whether it’s our employees or our products, safety is non-negotiable for me. If I’m leading a business, and people are looking up to me, how I behave according to the standards I set is critical.”

Determined to bring about good that went far deeper than getting the cookie dough back in shopping carts, Bakus set out to build back trust through the product itself.

That started with introducing a kill step into the raw dough.

“We put in an amazing effort to reformulate the product with heat-treated flour,” he said. “At that time, it wasn’t widely used, but we worked tirelessly to find heat-treated flour that could work in the recipe and be available at scale.”

After re-launching, Nestle stood out as an example of how to navigate product safety and recalls, going so far as to work with the CDC to institutionalize best practices. The case study is still in use today, Bakus said, in Nestle’s Quality College program.

“It’s a situation that I would never wish on anyone,” he said. “But these are the moments that can shape you as a leader, if you’re willing to learn from it.”

The innate risk taker became known as the safest guy in the room.

And in his time at Puratos, these values haven’t waned. In fact, Bakus and Puratos are aligned in the pursuit of uncompromised quality and safety.

“As an ingredient supplier, part of us is in the finished product,” Bakus said. “Keeping consumers safe is one of the most important things that we can do.”

“This is a relationship-driven industry, where meaningful relationships really matter … I realized I could really have a broad impact on the baking industry through Puratos.” — Paul Bakus | former president of North America | Puratos

Standing on platforms for good

Health, wellness and sustainability have always been passion points for Bakus, not just personally but also in how he has shown up for the industry.

His passions, in fact, were a driving force in his shift from CPG to the supplier side with Puratos.

“The biggest motivator for me was the ability to have an impact,” Bakus said. “This is a relationship-driven industry, where meaningful relationships really matter. When I could take the time to get to know the people and companies I was working with, I realized I could really have a broad impact on the baking industry through Puratos.”

Bakus is no stranger to sustainability efforts. During his time at Nestle, he saw the company actively demonstrate corporate responsibility in areas such as the cocoa supply chain, among others. In this regard, he and Puratos were a perfect fit.

“In my experience, Puratos has taken sustainability efforts to the next level,” he said, noting the company’s reaffirmed commitment to areas like becoming carbon-neutral by the end of 2025. “The next generation of Puratos shareholders are having an even more positive influence on those efforts because they so closely reflect today’s consumers.”

Bakus said he saw the efforts come to fruition in November, when Mexico City-based Grupo Bimbo gave Puratos its top Sustainability Award and also named the company Supplier of the Year for the US.

“It felt like a retirement gift,” he reflected. “To receive that recognition just before my retirement was beyond my wildest expectations. It’s a true reflection of Puratos’ efforts, and I’m so proud to have been a part of that.”

Throughout this career, Bakus has worked for companies that stand on platforms of feeding the world, and it’s a purpose he shares.

“That’s why I went to work every day,” he said. “I wanted to have a positive impact and work for companies where my values are aligned because this truly is a noble industry.”

In an era of consumer-driven change, Bakus lived by the nobility of these values, no matter where he stood in the supply chain.

With tools like Puratos’ Taste Tomorrow research, Bakus is proud to have participated in positive industry changes to meet those evolving consumer needs.

“Consumers today want to know so much more about their foods,” he said. “They want to know where the ingredients came from, if the packaging’s sustainable and if the farmers were treated fairly. And they want to eat healthier, better-for-you products. The industry is going to continuously evolve to meet these needs, and I love that.”

Into the sunset

Although he plans to lean fully into retirement, the Bakus name will carry on in the industry through his daughter, Crystina Bakus, supplier quality expert for Nestle.

“She attended her first IBIE last year,” he said. “It was a ‘proud dad’ moment for sure, not only to have her interact with all my colleagues at Puratos, but also to see her firsthand set out on her own career. I feel like I’m leaving somewhat of a legacy in the industry by having her here.”

While he leaves the industry with a second generation to carry on, he also leaves behind his own legacy, four decades in the making.

“It’s going to be difficult to walk away from the industry, and even harder to walk away from the people,” he said. “I hope I can be remembered for having a positive influence on the industry and on Puratos’ North American business and its amazing success story.”

Bakus’ successor Andy Brimacombe — who began his Puratos career on the same day as Bakus — took the helm Jan. 1 as president of North America, and Bakus is thrilled to cheer from wherever his leap into retirement takes him.

“It’s so comforting to give the reins to someone you know will take the business to the next level,” Bakus said. “I’m so blessed to have had such a rich history, I’m convinced that the baking industry’s — and Puratos’ — best years are ahead.”

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