Melanie Ayles

VP QUALITY AND R&D

Melanie Ayles serves as Vice President of Quality and R&D for Second Nature Brands, where she leads enterprise strategy for Quality, Food Safety, Regulatory, ESG, and R&D.

A food scientist and executive leader, Melanie brings more than 30 years of experience in the consumer-packaged goods industry.

She is known for transforming technical organizations by aligning people, processes, and technology to deliver business growth and operational excellence. Melanie has deep expertise in building scalable product platforms and best-in-class quality and food safety systems, and she is widely respected for her cross-functional leadership and ability to inspire high-performing teams.

Before joining Second Nature Brands, Melanie held senior Quality and R&D leadership roles at The J.M. Smucker Company, Sahale Snacks, POP! Gourmet Foods, Hain Food Group, and The Quaker Oats Company.

Melanie holds a Bachelor of Science in Food and Nutritional Science from Seattle Pacific University.