Amylu Foods has appointed Doug Bame as chief operating officer, tasking him with overseeing manufacturing, supply chain, food safety, and quality across the company's Chicago, Milwaukee, and Los Angeles facilities. The timing reflects rapid momentum for the chicken sausage pioneer. Retail dollar sales have grown 107% year over year, and Amylu expects its retail footprint to reach approximately 130,000 points of distribution by the end of 2026—a nearly 50% increase from current levels.

Backing Growth With Capital Amylu is investing $125 million to expand capacity across its plants to support this expansion. "With sales more than doubling and our distribution growing rapidly, we're investing $125 million to expand capacity across our plants so our operations can scale just as quickly," said Steven Zoll, CEO of Amylu Foods. "Doug is the right person to position our operations for the growth ahead."

Industry Veteran Takes Helm Bame brings more than 30 years of food industry leadership.

He previously served as president and COO of Crown Bakeries, overseeing a nine-plant network. Before that, he worked at Hormel Foods, where he led manufacturing integration of the Planters business and oversaw production for brands including Planters and Skippy. He also held operations roles at Columbus Craft Meats. "Amylu pioneered chicken sausage and still leads the category, and the momentum behind the brand is remarkable," said Bame. "My focus is on building the team and the capacity to keep pace with that demand, without ever losing sight of the care and attention to detail that make our products special. We're growing so more people can enjoy Amylu."

Why It Matters

The appointment reflects Amylu's shift from growth-mode startup to scaled operator.

Bringing in a seasoned COO with experience managing multi-plant networks and large-scale capacity challenges signals the company's confidence in sustained demand and its readiness to compete at shelf-space scale.

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Written by FBM Publications Editors