Producer

McCormick & Company

MKCHQ US · Hunt Valley, Marylandwebsite ↗

World's largest spice and seasoning company; $6.6B revenue in 2024; market leader globally. Dual strategy: retail brands (McCormick, French's, Frank's RedHot, Lawry's, Old Bay, Zatarain's) and industrial/foodservice (supplying spice systems to Tyson, Smithfield, JBS, McDonald's). McCormick's industrial segment supplies flavor systems directly to US and global processed meat processors. Also the leading supplier of spice blends to QSR chains. McCormick + Olam + Ajinomoto together control ~38% of global spice/seasoning market. McCormick's global sourcing includes direct relationships with pepper farmers in Vietnam, paprika processors in Spain/Hungary, and garlic processors in China.

3

Inputs supplied

1

Goods downstream

1

Facilities

0

Stories

Where it shows up

Goods downstream

Essential goods that depend on something McCormick & Company makes, pick one to see the full supply chain.

What else they do

Business segments

The company's full revenue map, where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.

  • Retail Spice & Seasoning Brands

    40%
  • Condiments

    20%
  • Flavor Solutions — Industrial & QSR

    35%
  • Natural Food Colors & Specialty Ingredients

Intelligence

What's known

Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains, chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.

  • Did you know2020

    Through its 2020 acquisition of FONA International, McCormick & Company — publicly known as the world's largest spice and seasoning company — supplies pharmaceutical flavor masking systems to drug manufacturers who need to mask the bitter or unpalatable taste of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in liquid medicines, chewable tablets, and pediatric formulations. FONA's pharmaceutical-grade flavor systems meet USP/NF standards. A company that sells Old Bay and Frank's RedHot is also embedded in pharmaceutical supply chains — supplying the flavor systems that make medicines taste acceptable enough for patients (especially children) to take them.

    McCormick & Company, Inc.
  • Capacity2023

    McCormick's industrial Flavor Solutions segment holds the proprietary seasoning formulation specifications for many of the most recognizable products at McDonald's, KFC, Tyson, and Smithfield — developed jointly and vendor-exclusive. Unlike commodity spice supply, these are co-developed flavor systems where the recipes are held by McCormick. Switching seasoning suppliers for a branded QSR menu item (e.g., KFC's distinct chicken flavoring) is effectively impossible without reformulating the product. This makes McCormick a de-facto sole-source supplier for specific branded products at multiple major QSR chains and meat processors simultaneously — a systemic concentration risk that isn't captured in standard commodity supply chain assessments.

    McCormick & Company, Inc.
  • Origin2023

    McCormick & Company was founded in Baltimore in 1889 by Willoughby McCormick as a tea, spice, and flavoring business. A century later it became the world's largest spice company through organic growth and acquisitions. The $4.2 billion acquisition of RB Foods in 2017 (French's mustard, Frank's RedHot) transformed it into a condiment powerhouse. In 2020, McCormick acquired FONA International ($710M) — a B2B flavor company serving pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and pet food manufacturers — expanding the company into drug formulation supply chains alongside its food businesses.

    McCormick & Company, Inc.