Our mission at McCormick is simple: to save your world from boring food! Our ability to accomplish this mission is underpinned by these five pillars, which form the foundation of our success.
Delivering High Performance
We are committed to achieving a superior level of performance in everything we do. This is especially true in the financial realm where we have nearly doubled earnings per share and achieved an average annual growth rate of 12% for cash flow from operations during the past decade.
Passion for Flavor™
We are committed to making food taste great. Around the globe, home cooks and professional chefs alike turn to McCormick for flavor and culinary inspiration. We have substantial and sustained investment in the science and art of flavor.
Inspiring Healthy Choices
Our high quality products not only make food taste better, they often make food better for you. Whether funding research on the potential health benefits of herbs and spices or developing reduced-sodium and gluten-free products, we continue to explore new ways to provide healthy eating choices.
Taste You Trust™
Our unrivaled focus on quality sets us apart. We are leaders in global sourcing and have years of experience impacting local growing practices to procure high quality spices, herbs and other crops. These world-class standards extend throughout our global supply chain and across all of our internal processes.
Power of People™
There is something inspiring about working at McCormick. Employee engagement and a high performance culture are rooted in an environment of respect, recognition, inclusion and collaboration. In addition, since the founding of the company, we have had a commitment to give back to the communities in which we operate.
The Flavor of Together
Ready Talent, Fully Engaged
Aligning careers with business objectives
We have a clear path for our business that is ambitious and global. We are committed to strengthening and aligning our workforce to meet our growth objectives. Throughout the company, we are implementing McCormick’s High Performance Organization, which creates a culture that leverages the power of our people by recognizing the importance of teamwork and empowerment. Additionally, we have established Learning and Development Centers in each geographic region where we provide opportunities for our people to further develop their professional skills. And, we have a robust talent review process driving advancement and succession for key roles across the organization.
Win Share with Global Focus
We are a global leader in flavor. In our consumer business, spices, herbs and seasonings generate approximately half of our sales. Globally, we have a 21% retail category share of packaged herbs and spices, which is more than four times that of the next largest competitor. Recipe mixes account for approximately 15% of sales for this business, followed by what we refer to as “regional leaders”—brands with a leading share in a specific market, such as Zatarain’s in the United States or Vahiné® dessert items in France. In our industrial business, we are a leading supplier of snack seasonings, branded foodservice spices and seasonings, and condiments and coatings for quick-service restaurants. Our multi-national industrial customers include nine of the top 10 food and beverage companies and nine of the top 10 foodservice restaurants.
Superior Results, Consistently Delivered
Compared to the S&P 500 stock index and peer food companies, McCormick has delivered superior shareholder returns looking back at the 5-year, 10-year and 20-year periods. We have grown sales each year for the past 10 years, with an average annual increase of 6%. During this same period, we have nearly doubled our earnings per share.
While we have navigated challenges during the past decade and throughout our 125 years, we are investing in our growth and fueling this investment with our Comprehensive Continuous Improvement (CCI) program. This program is designed to improve productivity throughout the organization to achieve at least $45 million in annual cost savings.
Engaging employees throughout the organization
More than 75 years ago, former CEO C.P. McCormick said to employees, “Think once for yourself and twice for the company, and the company will think twice for you and once for the business.” This “2 for 1” spirit inspires employee commitment and engagement. One measure of engagement is the 92% global participation rate for our latest Voice of the Employee survey. Another sign that the people of McCormick are fully committed and engaged in the company’s business is a lower-than-average employee turnover rate based on analysis in each of our major markets. We also are proud of the voluntary participation each year of hundreds of future business leaders on McCormick’s 17 Multiple Management Boards in locations around the world. These Boards offer a way to develop core skills including project management, communication, research, critical analysis and leadership, while working on projects that contribute to the company’s success.
Pictured here are leaders of our America’s Regional Diversity & Inclusion Council and four Employee Ambassador Groups:
• Women’s International Network
• Sabor Latino
• African American Ambassador Network
• Asian Diversity Group.
In collaboration with company leaders, these groups are driving programs that advance a spirit of inclusion at McCormick. We believe that a global focus on inclusion allows us to leverage the unique attributes, knowledge, skills and talents of our diverse workforce.
Across both businesses, innovation is a key element of our growth. We are investing in product technology and in the past two years expanded our development capabilities in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, South Africa and China. Every year, for the past 10 years, we have increased brand marketing support to drive trial and usage of both new and existing products. “Customer intimacy” is another growth driver. For food retailers, we have proven analytical tools and consumer insights to optimize product assortment, product placement and pricing. For our industrial customers, we align our resources with their business objectives to create winning consumer-preferred products.
Building upon our strength in developed markets, McCormick is expanding its global presence in emerging markets. Due in part to acquisitions, we have increased our percentage of sales in emerging markets to 15% in 2013 from 10% in 2011.
Our delicious grilling seasonings, sauces, marinades and rubs illustrate how we take a great idea from one market to another. From its roots in Canada to a 2013 launch in Europe, annual sales of these products exceed $100 million.
Our business generates significant cash flow, and we are working to strengthen this even further. We are focused on the effective management of working capital and efficient utilization of all of our assets as we build scale globally.
Pictured above: Plant employees in Canada improved manufacturing productivity and reduced material losses contributing to $63 million of CCI-related cost savings realized in 2013.
Follow Us:
This is an interactive electronic version of McCormick & Company 2013 Annual Report to Shareowners, and it is intended to be complete and accurate. The contents of this version are qualified in their entirety by reference to the printed version. A reproduction of the printed version is available in PDF format on this website.
© 2014 McCormick & Company, Incorporated
Online Annual Report Design and Development by Curran & Connors, Inc.
