Founder & CEO Katlin Smith to Step Down, Will Serve in Advisory Role

THOMASVILLE, Ga., March 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO) today announced that Michelle Lorge has been appointed president of Simple Mills. Lorge will report directly to Ryals McMullian, chairman and CEO of Flowers Foods. She succeeds Katlin Smith, founder and CEO of Simple Mills, who has made a personal decision to step down to spend more time with her family and on philanthropic interests, and will continue with the company in an advisory capacity.

"Michelle has been instrumental in shaping Simple Mills into the mission-driven, high-growth brand it is today," said McMullian. "Her deep understanding of the business, strong leadership skills, and unwavering commitment to the company's purpose make her exceptionally well-suited to lead Simple Mills into its next chapter. We are grateful to Katlin for her vision and leadership and look forward to her continued support in an advisory role."

Lorge, an 11-year veteran of Simple Mills, has built the brand alongside Smith, transforming the company from an early-stage startup into a leading natural cracker, cookie, bar, and baking mix brand with distribution in more than 30,000 stores nationwide. Most recently she served as chief marketing, innovation, and mission officer, where she led product innovation, built a purpose-driven marketing organization, and advanced wellness and sustainability initiatives that have helped redefine industry standards. Lorge joined Simple Mills in 2015 as one of the brand's first employees. Prior to joining Simple Mills, Lorge spent more than a decade at Kraft Foods where she led brand marketing and product innovation for Philadelphia, A.1., Grey Poupon, and Cool Whip.

"I am honored to step into this role and continue the incredible work Katlin started," said Lorge. "Simple Mills was founded on a belief that food can have a profound impact on human and planetary health, and that belief continues to inspire everything we do. I look forward to continuing to work with our talented team to advance our people and planet mission and broaden our impact to ignite meaningful change in the food industry and beyond."

Smith founded Simple Mills in 2012 after recognizing the transformative power of food in improving overall well-being. Under her leadership, the company grew into a category-leading brand carried by major retailers including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Target, Walmart, and Costco, alongside a strong e-commerce presence on Amazon. She has been widely recognized for her entrepreneurial achievements, receiving honors such as Forbes 30 Under 30, Inc. 30 Under 30, and Progressive Grocer's Top Woman in Grocery.

"Building Simple Mills has been one of the greatest privileges of my life," said Smith. "Michelle has been by my side shaping Simple Mills for many years and is deeply aligned with the mission and values that define who we are. I have full confidence in her ability to lead Simple Mills into the future."

About Flowers Foods

Headquartered in Thomasville, Ga., Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO) is one of the largest producers of packaged bakery foods in the United States with 2025 net sales of $5.3 billion. Flowers operates bakeries across the country that produce a wide range of bakery products. Among the company's top brands are Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Canyon Bakehouse, Simple Mills, Wonder, and Tastykake. Learn more at www.flowersfoods.com.

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Forward-Looking Statements

 Statements contained in this press release and certain other written or oral statements made from time to time by Flowers Foods, Inc. (the "company", "Flowers Foods", "Flowers", "us", "we", or "our") and its representatives that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements relate to current expectations regarding our business and our future financial condition and results of operations and are often identified by the use of words and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "would," "is likely to," "is expected to" or "will continue," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions we believe are reasonable. Forward-looking statements are based on current information and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those projected. Certain factors that may cause actual results, performance, liquidity, and achievements to differ materially from those projected are discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 3, 2026 (the "Form 10-K") and may include, but are not limited to, (a) unexpected changes in any of the following: (1) general economic and business conditions; (2) the competitive setting in which we operate, including advertising or promotional strategies by us or our competitors, as well as changes in consumer demand; (3) interest rates and other terms available to us on our borrowings; (4) supply chain conditions and any related impact on energy and raw materials costs and availability and hedging counter-party risks; (5) relationships with or increased costs related to our employees and third-party service providers; (6) laws and regulations (including environmental and health-related issues and the impacts of tariffs, including retaliatory tariffs); and (7) accounting standards or tax rates in the markets in which we operate,  (b) the loss or financial instability of any significant customer(s), including as a result of product recalls or safety concerns related to our products, (c) changes in consumer behavior, trends and preferences, including health and whole grain trends and consumer buying habits, the movement toward less expensive store branded products, and the continued reduction of purchases in the fresh packaged bread category, (d) the level of success we achieve in developing and introducing new products and entering new markets, (e) our ability to implement new technology and customer requirements as required, (f) our ability to operate existing, and any new, manufacturing lines according to schedule, (g) our ability to implement and achieve our corporate responsibility goals in accordance with regulatory requirements and the expectations of our stakeholders, suppliers, and customers; (h) our ability to execute our business strategies which may involve, among other things, (1) the ability to realize the intended benefits of completed, planned or contemplated acquisitions, dispositions or joint ventures, such as the acquisition of Simple Mills, (2) the deployment of new systems (e.g., our enterprise resource planning ("ERP") system), distribution channels and technology, and (3) an enhanced organizational structure (e.g., our sales and supply chain reorganization), (i) consolidation within the baking industry and related industries, (j) changes in pricing, customer and consumer reaction to pricing actions (including decreased volumes), and the pricing environment among competitors within the industry, (k) our ability to adjust pricing to offset, or partially offset, inflationary pressure or tariffs (including retaliatory tariffs) on the cost of our products, including ingredient and packaging costs; (l) disruptions in our direct-store-delivery distribution model, including litigation or an adverse ruling by a court or regulatory or governmental body that could affect the independent contractor classifications of the independent distributor partners ("IDPs"), and changes to our direct-store-delivery distribution model in California, (m) increasing legal complexity and legal proceedings that we are or may become subject to, (n) labor shortages and turnover or increases in employee and employee-related costs, (o) the credit, business, and legal risks associated with IDPs and customers, which operate in the highly competitive retail food and foodservice industries, (p) any business disruptions due to political instability, pandemics, armed hostilities, incidents of terrorism, natural disasters, labor strikes or work stoppages, technological breakdowns, product contamination, product recalls or safety concerns related to our products, or the responses to or repercussions from any of these or similar events or conditions and our ability to insure against such events, (q) the failure of our information technology systems to perform adequately, including any interruptions, intrusions, cyber-attacks or security breaches of such systems or risks associated with the implementation of the upgrade of our ERP system; and (r) the potential impact of climate change on the company, including physical and transition risks, our availability or restriction of resources, higher regulatory and compliance costs, reputational risks, and our availability of capital on attractive terms. The foregoing list of important factors does not include all such factors, nor does it necessarily present them in order of importance. In addition, you should consult other disclosures made by the company (such as in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") or in company press releases) for other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected by the company. Refer to Part I, Item 1A., Risk Factors, of our Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the SEC for additional information regarding factors that could affect the company's results of operations, financial condition and liquidity. We caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as they speak only as of the date made and are inherently uncertain. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise or update such statements, except as required by law. You are advised, however, to consult any further public disclosures by the company (such as in our filings with the SEC or in company press releases) on related subjects.

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SOURCE Flowers Foods, Inc.