READERPROFILE Humble Bragg: Ashton Roberts Bridges Sales, Supply Chain, and B Corp as told to Karen Kroll
ASHTON ROBERTS is manager of supply chain and analytics at Bragg Live Food Products, a provider of apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, and other products. RESPONSIBILITIES: Implementing data-driven forecasting models, enhancing supplier partnerships, leveraging technology to increase agility and reduce waste, and modernizing the company’s supply chains without compromising quality or values. EXPERIENCE: Manager of supply chain and analytics, senior supply chain analyst, supply chain analyst, all with Bragg; research analyst life cycle, carbon, and zero energy, New Buildings Institute; food ecosystem feasibility analyst, RAIN Eugene; customer success operations specialist, Procore Technologies. EDUCATION: M.B.A., Sustainability Studies, University of Oregon; B.A., Psychology and Communication, UC Santa Barbara.
I sit in a sweet spot between sales operations and supply chain at Bragg, where I see that everything between the two are flowing smoothly. A lot of my role is making sure we have good forecast tracking data, and that the operations team is prepared for any sales promotions. When I came into this role about three years ago, I was excited for Bragg to earn B Corp certification (a designation that a business meets high verified performance, accountability, and transparency standards). Our board of directors and C-suite told me, “Go for it. Lead the charge.” I’m on the younger end of the Bragg organization, and it can be difficult to be seen as a leader. But everybody has something to offer. I trust that the folks I work with are competent and capable,
and can think critically. I give my reports problems and let them surprise me with the solutions. B Corp certification took about one year, with a full company assessment that goes into detail about everything from employees to supply chain to marketing practices.
correctly, had the right approvals, and that everyone knew what was going on and was ready to move forward. While there was no skepticism or pushback, the one gap I had to overcome was lack of knowledge. The assessment takes a lot of work and bandwidth, and I needed to make sure everyone understood that before we jumped into it. I brought the knowledge I’d gained—I have an MBA with a specialization in sustainable practices— to the table to help make sure people were fully on board. After driving the process, it was awesome to see it come full circle. Before graduate school, I worked with a software company, but realized that life wasn’t for me because the product isn’t as tangible as I wanted it to be. That brought me back to school
LEADING THE TEAM I have a good handle on most of
the supply chain and environmental information, because supply chains generate most companies’ environmental impacts. However, I don’t presume to
know every function at Bragg. I pulled in coworkers to help
complete the governance and social sides of the assessment. It became a project management role, making sure we were going through the process
24 Inbound Logistics • January 2026
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