citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . april 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message mccormick & company type public traded as common nyse mkc.v common non voting nyse mkc s & p 500 component mkc industry processed & packaged goods founded 1889 1889 in baltimore maryland headquarters sparks maryland united states key people lawrence e. kurzius 1 president & ceo products spices herbs flavorings revenue us 4 123.4 million 2013 2 us 4 014.2 million 2012 2 operating income us 550.5 million 2013 2 us 578.3 million 2012 2 net income us 389.0 million 2013 2 us 407.8 million 2012 2 total assets us 4 449.7 million 2013 3 us 4 165.4 million 2012 2 total equity us 1 947.7 million 2013 3 us 1 700.2 million 2012 2 number of employees 8 000 approx slogan mccormick brings passion to flavor website www.mccormickcorporation.com mccormick & co. headquarters in sparks mccormick & company products on display at retail mccormick & company is a fortune 1000 company that manufactures spices herbs and flavorings for retail commercial and industrial markets . the company began in 1889 in baltimore maryland united states . one hundred years later mccormick moved from downtown baltimore to the suburb of hunt valley maryland . mccormick has approximately 8 000 employees . the company is headquartered in sparks maryland . its brands include mccormick ; zatarain s lawry s old bay seasoning mojave foods thai kitchen and simply asia united states ; ducros drogheria & alimentari kamis margao silvo and vahine europe ; club house spices and billy bee honey canada ; schwartz united kingdom ; aeroplane jelly and keen s mustard mccormick foods australia . contents 1 history 2 business units 3 references 4 external links history edit willoughby m. mccormick started the business in baltimore at age 25 in 1889 . from one room and a cellar the initial products were sold door to door and included root beer flavoring extracts fruit syrups and juices . seven years later mccormick bought the f.g. emmett spice company and entered the spice industry . 4 in 1903 willoughby and his brother roberdeau incorporated the company in maine ; 5 it was reincorporated in maryland in 1915 . most of the company s assets and records were destroyed in the great baltimore fire of 1904 though a new five story building was erected on the same site within 10 months . willoughby s nephew charles p. mccormick began working for the company in the summer of 1912 and was elected to the board of directors in 1925 . 4 willoughby died on november 4 1932 and charles was elected president and chairman of the board at age 36 . the big mc became a trademark for nearly all u.s. products in 1941 . mccormick acquired a. schilling & company of san francisco in 1947 ; established in 1881 it was a coffee spice and extract house that enabled mccormick to begin coast to coast distribution in the u.s. 6 mccormick continued to use the schilling name for its western division until the 1990s . the last product containers marked schilling were produced in 2002 . ben hur products a similar california based company was acquired in 1953 and canada s largest spice firm gorman eckert & co. ltd. of london ontario was acquired in 1959 . gilroy foods of gilroy california became a wholly owned subsidiary in 1961 . other acquisitions included baker extract co. in 1962 cake mate cake decorating in 1967 childers foods later part of golden west foods in 1968 and tubed products an easthampton massachusetts contract food packer and producer of plastic tubes also in 1968 . charles p. mccormick retired in 1969 and was named chairman emeritus . 7 he died of a heart attack in 1970 . mccormick acquired golden west foods a frozen foods manufacturer and distributor in gilroy california in 1973 and entered that field under the schilling brand label . the mccormick east and schilling west retail units were consolidated to form a grocery products division in 1975 with its headquarters in baltimore . additional acquisitions included all portions in 1975 tv time foods of chicago in 1976 astro foods of san rafael california in 1977 and han dee pak of atlanta in 1979 . in october 1979 swiss pharmaceutical firm sandoz ltd. announced its intention of purchasing the company . 8 mccormick sued sandoz in may 1980 and by september sandoz agreed to relinquish its efforts to purchase mccormick and sold the shares that it acquired in its attempt to purchase the company . setco a plastic bottles producer in culver city california and stange a specialty flavorings and colorings company of chicago were purchased as subsidiaries in 1981 . the company acquired paterson jenks a publicly held united kingdom corporation in 1984 and schwartz the largest uk spice line . other acquisitions included armanino farms the world s largest grower and processor of chives from armanino & son inc. of san francisco in 1986 ; and three california companies in 1987 gentry foods of gilroy parsley patch of windsor and the herb farm of encinitas . charles p. mccormick was elected president and chief executive officer in 1987 and re elected ceo and chairman of the board in 1988 . the company celebrated its centennial in 1989 with events primarily for employees and those responsible for its success and arranged for the musical group up with people to give a series of performances across the u.s. for schools churches hospitals and similar organizations . 9 mccormick was sold an interest in the old bay brand in 1990 and acquired mojave foods corporation of los angeles in 1991 and the consumer products business of golden dipt company in 1993 . mccormick s 1994 acquisitions included grupo pesa of mexico tuko oy of finland butto of switzerland and minipack of southampton united kingdom . chairman emeritus charles p. mccormick jr. was re elected chairman in 1994 . the company sold golden west foods in 1995 and minipack of southampton in 1996 . also sold in 1996 were gilroy foods and gilroy energy as well as giza national dehydration of cairo egypt . mccormick canada acquired the french s dry seasoning line in 1997 and mccormick stock began selling on the new york stock exchange in 1999 . 10 the company acquired ducros of france in 2000 later renamed mccormick france . in 2003 mccormick was added to the standard & poor s 500 index ; acquired uniqsauces of the uk and zatarain s of louisiana ; and sold its packaging businesses setco and tubed products as well as its jenks brokerage business assets . the company acquired c.m. van sillevoldt b.v. of the netherlands in 2004 and epicurean international renamed simply asia foods in 2006 with its thai kitchen and simply asia brands . in 2007 the company started a new advertising campaign to encourage people to dispose of older packages of spices by pointing out that any of their packages that list their address as baltimore md 21202 are over 15 years old . 11 12 13 in 2008 mccormick acquired billy bee honey products of canada and the lawry s brand of seasonings and marinades the biggest acquisition in company history . 14 to gain ftc approval for the purchase of lawry s mccormick agreed to sell its season all business to morton salt . 15 16 in 2011 the company acquired kitchen basics an ohio based brand of shelf stable liquid stock for 38 million . 17 during that year it also acquired kamis s.a. a privately held polish company with leading brands in spices seasonings mustards and other flavor products in poland for 291 million . 18 it also bought an 85 % stake in kohinoor speciality foods india for 115 million a joint venture with india based kohinoor foods ltd to market and sell basmati and food products in india . kohinoor foods is famous for its eponymous brand of basmati and ready to eat foods . 19 in mid 2013 the company completed its acquisition of wuhan asia pacific condiments co. ltd. wapc a seasoning manufacturer in the central region of china with the daqiao and chushile buillon products . 20 in december 2015 mccormick & co. inc. announced that lawrence e. kurzius head of global operations would become ceo effective february 2016 . kurzius was a leader at mccormick for 12 years before the announcement and previously held positions at uncle ben s mars inc. and the quaker oats co. 21 the company dropped its bid to acquire premier foods in april 2016 after determining that premier s asking price wouldn t benefit shareholders . 22 business units edit us consumer products the us consumer products division is mccormick s oldest and largest business . it manufactures and sells spices herbs extracts proprietary seasoning blends sauces and marinades . food service mccormick food service offers a full line of spices seasonings and other food products to broadline foodservice distributors and membership warehouse clubs . industrial flavor solutions mccormick flavors supplies natural and artificial flavors for industrial formulation needs . products are available in a variety of forms including liquid paste and powder . supherb farms supherb farms has a selection of culinary herbs fresh frozen and freeze dried . zatarain s zatarain s is the leading new orleans style food brand marketed nationally in the u.s. the zatarain s brand includes rice and dinner mixes products to prepare and season seafood and many other items . stubb s bbq sauces stubb s produces a variety of sauces marinades and rubs for meats . references edit http www.mccormickcorporation.com our company leadership a b c d e f g h mccormick & co inc 2013 annual report form 10 k xbrl . united states securities and exchange commission . january 29 2014 . a b mccormick & co inc 2014 q1 quarterly report form 10 q xbrl . united states securities and exchange commission . march 26 2014 . a b company history 1889 1929 . mccormickcorporation.com . mccormick and company . archived from the original on april 29 2009 . retrieved may 24 2009 . self published source mccormick and company inc. company history . fundinguniverse . retrieved may 24 2009 . company history 1930 1949 . mccormickcorporation.com . mccormick and company . retrieved may 24 2009 . self published source company history 1950 1969 . mccormickcorporation.com . mccormick and company . retrieved may 24 2009 . self published source company history 1970 1979 . mccormickcorporation.com . mccormick and company . retrieved may 24 2009 . self published source company history 1980 1989 . mccormickcorporation.com . mccormick and company . retrieved may 24 2009 . self published source company history 1990 1999 . mccormickcorporation.com . mccormick and company . retrieved may 24 2009 . self published source usa weekend magazine 28 september 2007 page 15 mccormick toss old spices seasonally t.o.s.s. mccormick fresh flavor company history 2000 present . mccormickcorporation.com . mccormick and company . archived from the original on october 29 2008 . retrieved may 24 2009 . self published source segall eli august 1 2008 . mccormick seasons its business by closing lawry s deal . bizjournals.com . baltimore business journal . retrieved 2009 05 24 . ftc challenges mccormick s acquisition of unilever s lawry s and adolph s brands . ftc.gov . federal trade commission . june 30 2008 . retrieved 2009 05 24 . http www.thestreet.com story 11261451 1 mccormick looks to acquisitions for growth.html http www.businesswire.com news home 20110628005879 en mccormick enters agreement acquire kamis brand leader . vrjg8vmud8e http articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com 2011 06 03 news 29617163 1 kohinoor foods joint venture eastern condiments mccormick signs agreement to buy chinese company . baltimore sun . august 21 2012 . retrieved march 11 2016 . sullivan joanna december 1 2015