Robert Smith

National Sales Manager, Bakery Food Service

Robert Smith joined King Arthur Flour in 2000 as the company’s National Sales Manager for Bakery Food Service flours. His focus is flour sales in the southeastern, central and western United States.

Robert holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of South Carolina and is a Certified Master Baker. His involvement in the baking industry began during the 1970s, when he “married into it.” Robert took a job at his father-in-law’s retail bakery in South Carolina in order to support his young family and went on to own that bakery for more than 20 years, growing it from eight to 26 employees, making everything from doughnuts to wedding cakes. In 1990 he sold the bakery and began working with Dawn Food Products for 10 years as a sales manager and training coordinator. In search of a job that would make better use of his extensive bakery training and experience, Robert was drawn to King Arthur Flour because of the top-quality products and service the company offers its customers. “It’s great never having to apologize for the quality of the product,” Robert says.

Robert’s inside knowledge of the baking industry proves an invaluable resource in working with bakery clients. Understanding everything from wheat prices to inventory control, equipment to formulas, and milling to actual baking, helps Robert relate to all of his clients, whether a mud-floor Mexican bakery in Texas or a large national wholesaler. “It’s the little things I know they’re going through,” Robert says. “I understand you don’t go into a retail bakery the week of a holiday, because they don’t have time to experiment and try something new. I know you don’t pull up to their front door when you go to call on them. And when a baker is having a problem, I try to look at what they’re doing and see what our product can do for them.”

Robert serves as the Director Emeritus and Treasurer of the Southeastern Retail Bakers Association, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Retail Bakers of America. In his spare time, Robert enjoys reading and working in his yard in Columbia, South Carolina.