hive of food scientists in white lab coats and protective goggles buzz quietly around McCormick & Co. CEO Lawrence Kurzius, filling test tubes and testing the contents with their noses. A garden of herbs grows on the wall behind them, accenting the room with fresh sprouts of mustard seed, amber peas, Brazilian parsley and other spices.
Most of that growth has come from the purchase of the food assets of the of U.K.-based Reckitt Benckiser Group for $4.2 billion two years ago. That was more than the combined cost of all the acquisitions made in McCormick’s 130-year history, and investors hated it, sending the stock down 5% the day it was announced. But in retrospect it was a brilliant move. It gave Kurzius control of a slew of supermarket staples, including French’s mustard, Cattlemen’s barbecue sauce and Frank’s RedHot.
Frank’s RedHot was the secret ingredient in the Reckitt deal. The vinegary concoction is America’s favorite hot sauce, famously used to spice up Buffalo-style chicken wings. Kurzius’ army of food technicians extracted Frank’s flavor.
McCormick’s bottles are ubiquitous in the spice racks of most American kitchens, and seasonings like Old Bay still make up the bulk of sales. The brand controls 40% of the U.S. spice market and 20% of the world’s. But it’s a low-growth commodity business, and Kurzius is wise to turn his attention elsewhere.
In his favor, Kurzius has spent decades obsessing over the competition. A natural-born entrepreneur who started selling garden seeds in his native Huntsville as a kid, he’s hawked Uncle Ben’s Rice at Mars and Cap’n Crunch cereal at Quaker Oats. Before McCormick, he spent 12 years at Zatarain’s lifting sales of the small New Orleans–style rice brand from $15 million to $120 million, before selling it to McCormick in 2003 for $180 million. He’s been there ever since.
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