McCormick & Company, Incorporated
Leadership History
2 leaders · 2016 to present
Brendan M. Foley is the CEO of McCormick, in the role since 2023. The first chief executive was Lawrence E. Kurzius, from 2016.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brendan M. Foley | Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer | 2023 | Present | 3 |
| Lawrence E. Kurzius | Chief Executive Officer (former) | 2016 | 2023 | 7 |
McCormick & Company, founded in Baltimore in 1889 and now headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, is one of the largest spice and seasoning companies in the world. It sells under brands including McCormick, French's, Frank's RedHot, Cholula, Lawry's, Old Bay and Zatarain's, and it supplies flavors to food manufacturers and restaurant chains. It reported FY2025 net sales of $6.84 billion and is led by Chairman, President and CEO Brendan M. Foley.
McCormick makes money by selling flavor in two ways. The Consumer segment (roughly 57% of sales in FY2024) sells branded products such as McCormick spices, French's mustard, Frank's RedHot, Cholula, Lawry's, Old Bay, Zatarain's, Club House, Ducros, Schwartz and Kamis to retailers, plus private-label spices in some markets. Flavor Solutions (roughly 43%) sells seasonings, flavors and coatings to food and beverage manufacturers and foodservice customers, often formulated for a single customer product. Retail brands carry higher margins; Flavor Solutions adds volume, customer stickiness and technical scale.
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
2023 – Present
3 years (current)
Agreed the Unilever Foods combination (2026); took 75% control of McCormick de Mexico for $750 million (2026).
Foley became CEO in September 2023 after serving as President and COO, and later added the chairman role. He led the 2026 McCormick de Mexico step-up and the agreement to combine with Unilever Foods. He previously worked at Heinz and General Mills.
Chief Executive Officer (former)
2016 – 2023
7 years
RB Foods acquisition (2017); Cholula and FONA acquisitions (2020).
Kurzius was CEO from 2016 to 2023 and oversaw the $4.2 billion RB Foods acquisition (French's and Frank's RedHot) and the 2020 Cholula and FONA deals.
McCormick faces spice crop volatility, commodity costs, retailer private label, consumer trade-down, debt from prior acquisitions, supply chain complexity, foreign exchange, and pressure from larger flavor houses in B2B ingredients. It also has to keep basic spice categories from becoming too commoditized.
Founder Willoughby M. McCormick, Charles P. McCormick, Robert Lawless, Alan Wilson (2008 to 2016), Lawrence Kurzius (2016 to 2023) and Brendan Foley (2023 to present).
Kurzius led the $4.2 billion RB Foods acquisition (French's, Frank's RedHot) in 2017 and the Cholula and FONA acquisitions in 2020.
Foley, CEO since September 2023, led the 2026 McCormick de Mexico deal and the agreement to combine with Unilever Foods.
Brendan Foley serves as CEO, taking over in 2023. He succeeded the highly successful Lawrence Kurzius (who orchestrated the massive French's and Cholula acquisitions). Foley's absolute primary mandate is defending market share from inflation-weary consumers switching to generic brands, while aggressively investing in IBM AI technology to instantly predict massive global flavor trends and invent new products years before competitors.
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