AB Mauri North America, a leader in yeast and bakery ingredient products and solutions, announced that Joseph (Jay) Hardy joined the company on Jan. 28 as eastern region vice president of sales. Hardy previously served as the director of co-pack operations for Bimbo Bakeries USA.

“AB Mauri North America is a company with a rich and reputable history in yeast and baking ingredients,” said Hardy. “My long history in the baking industry has helped me understand the unique challenges our industry faces and I look forward to working with the AB Mauri team to deliver innovation and continued exceptional customer support.”

Hardy brings 25 years of bakery experience to AB Mauri North America. Prior to his role at Bimbo Bakeries USA, he held the industry sales manager position at Danisco USA, directing team efforts to initiate and implement technical and product formulation, as well as led product and processing issue resolution. Before Danisco USA, Hardy was a commercial development specialist at Novo Nordisk BioChem North America, Inc. (now Novozymes North America, Inc.), facilitating technical support with regional and national baking companies, and fostering relationships with ingredient suppliers, supplying technical training and customer support.