If you’ve ever worked a 2am shift, fixed a last-minute cake mistake, or stayed late because a wholesale order went sideways… you’re going to like Arie.
We are beyond excited to officially introduce Arie Bates as BakeSmart’s Sales Representative — and yes, he’s one of us. Not “tech who learned bakery.”
Bakery first. Always.
Arie’s journey started early.
As a sophomore in high school, he was already taking pastry courses at Kendall College in Chicago. He went on to study Baking & Pastry Arts and Hospitality Management at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island — a place he still talks about with genuine gratitude.
But his real education? The trenches.
He started at 14 as a dishwasher and worked his way up through:
He’s worked retail counters, restaurant pastry kitchens, large production facilities, catering companies, and high-end retail/wholesale bakeries producing artisan breads, laminated pastries, and world-class cakes.
He didn’t just study baking. He lived it.
Ask Arie his favorite thing to bake and you’ll likely hear about laminated pastry — croissants and danish. He loves the precision, the folding, the rhythm of the process. It’s a new challenge every time.
That tells you something about him.
He loves systems.
He once heard someone say:
“Chefs can afford a little chaos. Bakers can’t.”
If a baker makes a mistake, you’re not fixing it in five minutes. You’re hours behind. Maybe a full day behind.
Arie knows that feeling. And he hates it.
In every bakery he worked in, he naturally became “the systems guy” — building spreadsheets, organizing cake programs, setting up production flow, and trying to eliminate the little mistakes that steal hours from already long days.
He didn’t just want things to run.
He wanted them to run well.
Ask him what frustrated him most in bakery operations and he doesn’t hesitate:
Wholesale.
Cutoff times missed.
Order changes not communicated.
Production teams blindsided.
Holiday schedules exploding from 8-hour days to 14-hour marathons.
He’s seen firsthand how:
Can turn into stress, discounts, comps, and lost margin.
He’s felt the weight of those mistakes. And he’s felt how exhausting it is to fix them.
Arie didn’t leave baking because he stopped loving it.
He joined BakeSmart because he loves it enough to want it to be better.
He saw an opportunity to take everything he learned the hard way — wholesale chaos, cake program confusion, production inefficiencies — and help bakeries avoid it.
He says it simply:
“I know what it’s like to work in chaos and I hate it. I’m here to lend a hand and help people out of that chaos.”
But what stands out about Arie isn’t just his experience.
It’s the calmness he brings to conversations. When he talks to bakery owners and managers, it’s not a pitch. It’s recognition.
“I’ve been there. I’ve worked that shift. I’ve made that mistake.” That changes the conversation.
At BakeSmart, we believe software for bakeries should be built by bakery people.
Because this industry is nuanced. It’s emotional. It’s fast. It’s layered. It’s deeply human.
Arie knows the moving parts because he’s lived the moving parts. He knows how one small breakdown in communication can ripple through an entire day.
He knows that when production falls behind, it’s not just numbers. It’s people staying late. It’s missed family dinners. It’s stress that follows you home.
That’s why he’s here. Not to sell software.
To help bakeries build systems that let them:
Arie is especially excited about the future of bakeries and technology working together. As AI and automation evolve, he believes something interesting will happen:
The more technology advances, the more people crave authenticity — old-world methods, traditional breads, hyper-local products.
Technology doesn’t replace craft. It protects it. It gives bakeries the structure to produce incredible food without burning out the people behind it.
That’s the future he’s excited to be part of.
Outside of work, Arie is:
He misses the kitchen teams. The camaraderie. The “we survived that together” energy. And now, he brings that same spirit to BakeSmart.
When you talk to Arie, you’re not talking to a salesperson.
You’re talking to someone who:
And knows how powerful it feels to finally get it right. We’re thrilled to have him on our team.
The future of BakeSmart isn’t just smarter software.
It’s smarter bakeries — built by people who truly understand the work.
And Arie is a big part of that future.