December 18, 2024 • 29 mins
This global corporation sells herbs and spices in grocery stores, yes, but it also has hands in all sorts of aspects of the business of flavor. Anney and Lauren explore the history and reach of McCormick & Company.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello, and welcome to Savor production of Iyheart Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm any Res and I'm Lauren vogel Baum, and today
we have an episode for you about McCormick.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Yes, not our friend Joe McCormick, who I do know.
Oh yeah, Oh Joe is so good. Uh no, the
company McCormick. Yes. Well, is there any particular reason this
was on your mind? Lauren?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Uh well, certainly not because they're a sponsor, which they
are not currently reach out. I don't know, but uh yeah,
it's been They've been kind of in the back of
my head for a minute because they're so omnipresent. And
I was like, what's up with that company? I bet
that's a weird story, and lo.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
It is lo and behold, Yes, I mean I think
a lot of us do during the holidays reach for
a lot of McCormick brand spices. I did find it
funny how many articles I found. McCormick has done some
really interesting ad campaigns over the years, and one of
(01:11):
them was about like check the expiration date on your spice.
Oh no, oh dear. Yeah, And I've found a lot
of really funny articles about people being like, I'm good,
how dare they tell me to do that and they
find one ten years old. Yeah. So, and you know
(01:35):
during the holidays sometimes you only use certain things around
certain periods of the year, sure, or like in in bulk,
not bulk as the very but you know, more than usual.
And so it was funny.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Oh yeah, especially when you like integrate households or anything
like that. I somehow, and there are a few things
that I feel like you wind up buying more of
without needing because you're like, do I have clothes? Heck it,
I'll just get a bottle of clothes. And that's how
you wind up with like five bottles of whole clothes
sitting in your cupboard. And that's too many clothes. That
(02:11):
is objectively more clothes than anybody needs.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Yes, yes, I do the same. And the part of
it is due to my lack of organization, because when
I'm tired, I'm just like, where can I fit this here? Here?
And then later I'll be like I could have sworn
I bought more ginger, and then I'll go buy more
and then I find over that I haven't opened yet
or anything. Yep, yep, yep, yep. Well we're not alone
(02:38):
in that problem, and McCormick made a whole ad campaign
about it. They also did one of those spice girls.
They tried to do one of the spice girls and
it fell through. But anyway, Oh yeah, I would say, uh,
see our Old Bay episode because a lot of the
things I was reading turned into an article not about McCormick,
but Old Bay. All right, Old Bay seasoning. So see
(03:01):
that episode we did on that one and then other spices.
They actually are involved in a lot more than I
realized they were involved with. But yeah, other spices, Yeah,
which I guess brings us to our question. Sure, McCormick,
what is it? Well.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
McCormick and Company, Incorporated is a corporation that produces and
sells several brands of herbs, spices, sauces, condiments, and dressings,
both to consumers and to like the food manufacturing and
service industry at a global level. They also create custom
flavorings for the food and beverage industry and the health
and wellness industry, and fund a bunch of research into
(03:46):
the potential health benefits of herbs and spices and the
science of like how humans experience taste. If you are
in North America or Europe, I would be willing to bet.
I'm not a betting man, but I would be willing
to bet that you've got something that they have touched
in your home right now, and if you're anywhere else, like, chances.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Are still pretty good. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
They are huge, and they are omnipresent. They're like if
Santa was a flavor corporation. They know when you've been sleeping,
they know you have clothes, yes, yes, Oh, I don't know,
(04:31):
but they do. I wanted to read this explanation of
what they do from their corporate website because I really
adore like corporate website speak all right, and I quote,
McCormick and Company, Incorporated is a global leader in flavor.
With our diverse and balanced flavor portfolio, we are ideally
(04:53):
positioned to meet the increasing demand for flavor around the world.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Flavors. Okay, I don't know how they made it sound
so sinister.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
They did, I don't think, I mean, I mean, it
wasn't just me anyway. In the United States alone, the
McCormick brand alone, Like they have other brands, but they
have a brand that's just McCormick. That brand sells at
least one hundred and four varieties of like spice rack
(05:31):
jars of herbs and spices, and blends thereof. They also
sell ninety three varieties of like seasoning and sauce starter
packets for everything from stir fries to pasta, to chili,
to gravy, to dips, to air fryer fries to like
instapop pot roast. They furthermore got twenty five varieties of
(05:52):
liquid flavor extracts, eight types of fry batters, fourteen prepared
dips and sauces, twenty one blends of things to sprinkle
on top of finished dishes, three products meant solely to
help the texture of your finished food, and currently six
varieties of flavored finishing sugar for your holiday sweets. And
again that is just their like basic home brand marketed
(06:16):
to consumers product line. Wow, Yeah, they're doing a lot,
they are.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
They are.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
They also own about thirty different brands that are popular
in different areas around the world. And I didn't look
up how to say all of these from other countries,
so I'm giving it my best shot, and I'm sorry
if I'm butchering it. Okay, But from the US, there's
familiar stuff like Chilula, frenches, Frank's Red Hot, Lowry's Old
Bay Stubs, Barbecue, Elguappo, Simply, Asia, Thai Kitchen and Zatarines.
(06:54):
Then there's Clubhouse in Canada, Schwartz and the UK, Silvo
in the Netherlands and Portugal, Giotti in Italy, Chemists Chemis
in Poland, Ducros in France, and Aeroplane in Australia. And
some of these brands include like ready to prepare or
heat and eat foods like rice mixes, noodables and gelatin desserts.
(07:16):
In addition to herbs and spices, they produce spice blends
and sauces for the restaurant industry as well at everything
from like gallon jugs to like Little to Go packets.
And they also do invisible work in co creating flavors
with other companies for use in beverages, dairy products, snacks,
baked goods, candy, savory food in general, nutritional supplements and beyond.
(07:41):
They have a proprietary process that they call create It
Registered to help brands like study their place in the
market and come up with ideas that are quick and
easy to implement. They've paired with IBM to create an
AI for flavor development that they call sage.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I see what they did, uh huh. They also developed
like an emotion measurement questionnaire called essence profile to help
product developers measure consumer response to food products. What they
did that, yep.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
More broadly, their research arms look into or fund looking
into nutritional science and food psychology. A lot of recent
work is about like increasing the palatability of foods under
various constraints, you know, like reduced fat, reduced sugar, salt,
reduced cost by using herbs and spices.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Also, every year they release.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
A flavor forecast about trends in the food and beverage industry.
For twenty twenty four, they highlighted sour Power, which is
the increase in sour flavor profiles and foods and drinks
from everything from like citrus to ferments. Thoughtfully borrowed, which
is the like intentional, respectful remixing of traditional cuisines. And
(09:08):
then indulgence redefined, which I think is just talking about
comfort food. But their flavor of the year's Tamarind, which
ties into all three trends. I think they released the
new forecast every January, so we have that to look
forward to.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
To keep an eye on that. One. Yeah, yeah, okay,
well what about the nutrition do not eat giant global corporations,
although that's kind of what McCormick did. Oh oh that's true.
Oh there you go. Yes, I just did finger guns
(09:46):
only Lauren could see it. Yeah, we do have some
numbers for you. Oh my gosh, we do.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Okay, So in twenty twenty three, McCormick did over six
point five billion in sales across about like over one
hundred and fifty countries and territories. About fifty seven percent
of their business is direct to consumers. The other forty
three percent is to manufacturers and food service. They apparently
(10:15):
work with all ten of the top ten restaurant chains worldwide,
creating flavors top ten in what regard exactly, I'm not sure,
but it sounded impressive. The company has some thirteen thousand
employees across twenty nine countries. Among their employees are about
(10:35):
four hundred food scientists working out of twenty technical innovation
centers around the world. They source at least fourteen thousand
ingredients from over forty five thousand farmers in at least
eighty five countries.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Wow, forty five.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Thousand farmers, that's yeah. In the US alone, they produce
over one hundred million spice canisters every year.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Wow. Yeah, I mean I think you would win your bet, Lauren.
I think that in the US you have something that
McCormick is involved with. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yeah, whether it's labeled as such or not, I think
it's a pretty good, pretty good bet.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Yeah. And the story of how that came to be
is not exactly what I would think at least. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yeah, And we are going to get into that history
as soon as we get back from a quick break.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
For a word from our sponsors, and we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes,
thank you. Okay.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
So McCormick and Company goes back to eighteen ninety nine
in Baltimore, when the founder of the company, Willoughby M McCormick,
went door to door selling.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Syrups and extracts. I also read root beer specifically in
some places, but in other places said root beer extract.
But anyway, root beer was involved. Cool At first. He
worked largely out of his basement and his products were
labeled B brand b ee B. Yeah. McCormick was born
(12:27):
in Virginia and developed an interest in food stuffs and
trade while working at a general store in Texas and
through that. He specifically chose Baltimore to do business in
because it was a port city where he would have
access to trade routes, both for ingredients he wanted to
use and to distribute his own products. In his early days,
(12:49):
he sold non food stuffs too, and quite an interesting
array of them, things like Uncle Sam's nerve and bone
liniment or ligament that was quote fit for men or beast,
and a sort of fishy smelling glue that was guaranteed
to stick to everything but the user. I would love
(13:12):
to know if that was true. The spices didn't come
into play until eighteen ninety six, after McCormick purchased the
fg Emmett Spice Company out of Philadelphia. So when I
was kind of joking earlier about them eating other corporations,
that's been a part of their company for a long time. Yes, Yes.
(13:34):
In nineteen oh four, a fire devastated eighty blocks in Baltimore,
McCormick wrote in a letter to his mother, I believe
quote we lost everything but our books, which we got
out at about three o'clock this morning. We had to
run for our lives before the year was even over.
Though he'd opened a five story factory and was back
(13:54):
in business. The company branched out to experimenting with teas
and tea bags, which at the time were often hands owned.
And I almost went on a rabbit hole because I
really wanted to know more about this. Ooh, adding tea
bags to our list. Yes, yes, yes. By the early
nineteen hundreds, McCormick spices were available in stores all over
the US, and the company began expanding into other countries.
(14:18):
In nineteen twenty one, the company completed construction of a
nine story factory and headquarters in Baltimore, and its construction
was the source of a lot of articles about its size.
It was very impressive. Cool, yes, but like many companies,
McCormick was hit hard by the Great Depression. McCormick himself
(14:39):
traveled to New York desperate to get loans to keep
the company afloat. However, he died suddenly of a heart
attack that same year in nineteen thirty two. He didn't
have any children, so the company transferred over to his
relative and vice president, Charles McCormick senior, often called cp
CP switched to key for the company, pivoting away from
(15:02):
the previous cost cutting measures that they had been relying on,
instead giving the employees a ten percent raise. He also
introduced profit sharing and gave out free turkeys to the
employees on Thanksgiving, which, by the way I read they
still hand out coupons for free turkeys. Blisters let me know.
He allowed employees to have a say in how the
(15:23):
company was run. They had these kind of committees they
could form. All of this earned him the label of
communists in some circles, which at the time no, no, no,
But these policies did seem to work. By nineteen thirty three,
the company was once again profitable. As early as the forties,
McCormick started experimenting with spices and spice compounds in a lab.
(15:47):
This was in part due to shortages of spices during
World War Two, and they still have this lab today,
although it has been rebranded gone through some changes. McCormick
acquired San Francisco's A. Shill And Company in nineteen forty seven,
and in doing so ensured McCormick products were available from
coast to coast. Chilian company's history also traced back to
(16:08):
the eighteen eighties, and they'd similarly experienced a natural disaster.
I think it was an earthquake that set them back.
But yeah, by the fifties and sixties their products were
available in Europe, Australia, Mexico, Canada, and South and Central America.
During this time, they were testing and releasing so many
new products and acquiring other companies international and not to
(16:32):
grow their company over the following decades up until today's
again something they still do. In the nineteen sixties, I
Love This, McCormick launched a powdered fizzy drink that was
marketed towards children, called Fun. The ad featured a young
boy excitedly exclaiming, We're going to have fun. Yeah, really good. Right. However,
(17:00):
the foil packets for Fun weren't there yet, the size
was there yet, and they allowed in moisture, not good
for a fizzy drink product, leading to multiple packets exploding
in warehouses and shelves. You can read a really great
first person recounting of this and how it became such
(17:23):
a headache. You'd be on the phone with somebody from
the company you need'd to hear them like exploding the bound. Yeah,
so they shelved Fun and you know, kind of related
jumping ahead a nineteen ninety eight New York Times article
deemed that McCormick was quote more like a museum of
(17:46):
recipes from the nineteen fifties than a reflection of America
at the millennium's cusp. With more women trading in the
ladle for the briefcase, sales of staples like nutmeg, cardamom,
turmeric and mace have suffered badly. Oh, third wave feminism
of the nineteen nineties. Yes, it's so. But also it's
(18:10):
funny looking at it now, looking at the numbers that
you read very wrong.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Yeah, I'm not correct at all. The New York Times
from nineteen ninety eight. In the year two thousand, I
think it's either two thousand or two thousand and seven.
I saw it written in both ways, and some of
the numbers that I gave above also, I'm just like,
I saw different numbers reported in different places. I suspect
(18:39):
because they are such a huge company that they're like,
I don't know, that's sure, cool, whatever you want. Around
the year two thousand, they launched the McCormick Science Institute,
which sponsors research into the nutritional science of herbs and spices.
I'm pretty sure that's also when they first did a
flavor forecast. The flavor forecast we have used stuff from
(19:04):
their science Institute before.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yeah. Yeah. In twenty seventeen, McCormick purchased Frank's Red Hot
and French's Mustard. I know they purchased a bunch of stuff.
I just I feel like I didn't know Frank's Red
Hot and so I put it in here. But yeah, yeah, yeah,
ol Old Bay happened at some point in here. So yeah, yeah,
a bunch of Yeah. McCormick changed the design of their
(19:27):
bottles in twenty twenty three, the first time in forty years,
with snap tight lids, which I don't think i've actually seen.
Oh oh I have some. Yeah, Oh pretty cool. Yeah. Well,
they claim it's to keep the I'm not saying they're wrong,
but they claim it's to keep the flavor in better. Also,
it prevents I've had this happen to me before, when
(19:50):
you're like, oh, and then you pour the whole thing in.
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
I think I think they were also working on like
like streamlining, like use of plastic, and so this uses
less plastic than the traditional screw on caps.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
But yeah, they're slick.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
It's sort of like a like a little you know,
like like like one of those hinged toothpaste lids that
just kind of snaps on.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Yeah. Yeah, but it was a big deal because, yeah,
they hadn't changed it in so long and people are
so familiar with their old screw on lids. But yeah,
they are constantly introducing new lines, new flavors. They're experimenting
all the time. They've also launched a few initiatives to
(20:34):
provide more equitable circumstances for farmers involved in their spices
and products. At this moment, it is unclear whether they
have been successful or not.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Yeah, they have like a lot, a lot, a lot,
a lot of community oriented programs, both for their own
employees and for their farmers. And it seems like they're
not evil or or like they're trying to not be evil.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
M hmm. Hard to say. It's hard to say. Hard
to say, and these are modern times, it's hard to say,
but they do. I think the most recent thing I
read it was saying like it won't be until twenty
twenty five until we can say, until we have the
data to yeah. Yeah, but it seems like yes, they're
(21:24):
they're trying. Yeah, we'll see yeah, but yeah, I personally
would love to hear from listeners about maybe your old
year old spices. Any I mean again, so many recipes.
I would ask for recipes, but it's like, yeah, so
(21:47):
many recipes you can use this McCormick.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Or yeah, if you if you have a if you
have a favorite spice that you just put in everything.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, I mean that's Frank's red hot whole. Oh yeah,
heck yeah, that's the ad campaign. I put that bit
in everything. I'm not ketan to ads. That's great. It
was Betty White. Yeah, that's horrible, old Betty Well.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I think that is what we have to say about
McCormick for now. It is, but we do have some
listener mail for you, and we are going to get
into that as soon as we get back from one
more quick break for a word from our sponsors' back.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you, And we're back with
this ner. Sometimes that ding Andrew puts it in obviously
after we've recorded, and I use it in my inspiration.
(23:01):
That was like putting into spices and the Dean Oh
it's done. Yeah yeah. Eric wrote about several things, starting
with Mounds and almond Joy. Both are good candies and
like the jingle said, it depends if you feel like
a nut or if you don't. It almost seems like
(23:22):
you need to search for them now, as you don't
seem to get them as often as other candy these days.
And yes, the British Bounty is great. I was in
London at the beginning of October for a few days
of work and I grabbed a five pack of the
Dark Chocolate Bounty, along with a five pack of Mars bars,
some kit Cats you can't get here, and some Galaxy
bars for my wife. All of this is so much
(23:44):
better than what we have in my opinion, I have
been rashing them to one a week of each, so
I'll be having my last one soon. You pick farms
are fun depending on what you are picking. In my opinion,
I mean photo ops with boats are great and reason
enough for them, but the crops are a bonus. I'm
done with strawberries as that is just too much bending
(24:07):
over or squatting down for me. We have one we
enjoy that does peaches. There is something about fresh picked
peaches that just makes summer wonderful. Get a couple of
really juicy ones and cut them up into a picture
of some tea and bonus if you cut them over
the tea to get all the juice in. Blueberries are
(24:27):
my other real favorite. Leads to blueberry crumble, blueberry muffins,
and blueberry scones, just to name a few. I just
really hope in these days of climate change that they
will continue. Hopefully we can stop destroying this beautiful planet
and the wonderful bounty of food it can produce. Hearing
about the deer hunt reminded me of those days. I
(24:48):
grew up around a lot of farms and my friends
and I knew a lot of these farmers. The farmers
were great when you got to know them and respected
their land. There were two in particular everyone liked to
hunt on as it was a very straightforward agreement and
saved money. You could coll and haul to their barn
and they would handle the processing for about one fourth
of the meat. That meant you did not have to
(25:09):
lug it to the processor and pay the fees there.
Looking back, I never really thought about it at the time,
but yes, the deer taken on the farms was not
as keamy as the deer taken in the woods well
away from the farms. I get why some people are
against hunting, and there are definitely people out there who
hunt for the wrong reason and in horrible ways. I
just think there needs to be more attention drawn to
responsible hunting and how it can benefit people. I haven't
(25:32):
gone in over thirty years, so I hate to think
what my bow skills would be now. Oh, I hear you.
I have so many friends who keep like teasing me,
like teach me how to do the bow in air,
or teach me how to throw a knife, And I'm like,
at one time I was pretty good at that stuff,
but I haven't done it since I'm in the city,
(25:53):
so I don't think I can. Yeah that was a
minute ago.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Yeah, yeah, we we just need to take you out
for some practice.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
I mean a part of me is like, I hope
it's there would be a learning curve, but it's like
riding a bike. Yeah. But a part of me is like,
I think you, I think you really got to keep
up with some yeah, some of that physical coordination stuff.
I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, well, maybe one
day I'll report back. I do love this bounty of
(26:29):
candy and your rationing of it. I feel like every
time I would go to a different country, I would
do the same thing, where I'd be like, I can't
get this in the United States. So here we go.
And I agree with you about the U pick and
the some is easier than others. Yeah, yes, for sure.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Yeah, if you're taller than like three feet, I feel
like I feel like strawberries are difficult.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
But yes, yeah, good, send the kids out there, let them,
let them get some energy out. But yeah yeah, but
oh no, really good peaches. Yeah, there's nothing quite like it.
A bad peach is so sad, but when you get
a good one, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
I I promised my family and I didn't actually do it.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
This year, but next year.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
There's a there's a relatively local farm in Georgia that
does peaches called Pearson and they have the best heck
in peaches, not a sponsor, just the best hack in peaches.
And yeah, so I'm gonna I'm gonna send them some
boxes of fruit like a true old person.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Yes, embrace it, Laura.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Looking forward to it, Carolyn wrote, never did I think
I'd write in on this oddly specific fact, but here
we are. Ava Max is a pop singer who you've
probably heard and didn't realize who was singing. She has
some pretty good catchy songs. The reason I absolutely had
to write it immediately while the episode is still playing,
mind you, is that her being at a prosecco event
(28:07):
is rather funny to me. Why you ask. One of
her more well known songs, Kings and Queens, includes the
lyrics if all of the kings had their queens on
the throne, we would pop champagne and raise a toast champagne, ladies, Champagne,
not prosecco.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
First of all, thank you, yes, thank you. This is
so great because we mentioned in that Prosecco episode we
neither of us new even Max was, but it was
a good fact, so thank you. I also find I
do find this really humorous because it sounds to me
(28:47):
like Prosecco was trying to like, heard that song and
was like like we get yeah, we got that lady. Yeah,
to be at a prosecco event, it's beautiful all around. Yeah,
that's pretty good. That's pretty good. Well, thanks so much
to both of these listeners for writing in. If you
(29:09):
would like to write to us, you can our emails
Hello at savorpod dot com. We're also on social media.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
You can find us on Twitter, moving into Blue Sky,
Facebook and Instagram at saver pod and we do hope
to hear from you. Savor is production of iHeartRadio. For
more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan
(29:35):
Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and
we hope that lots more good things are coming your
way
Hello, and welcome to Savor production of Iyheart Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm any Res and I'm Lauren vogel Baum, and today
we have an episode for you about McCormick.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Yes, not our friend Joe McCormick, who I do know.
Oh yeah, Oh Joe is so good. Uh no, the
company McCormick. Yes. Well, is there any particular reason this
was on your mind? Lauren?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Uh well, certainly not because they're a sponsor, which they
are not currently reach out. I don't know, but uh yeah,
it's been They've been kind of in the back of
my head for a minute because they're so omnipresent. And
I was like, what's up with that company? I bet
that's a weird story, and lo.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
It is lo and behold, Yes, I mean I think
a lot of us do during the holidays reach for
a lot of McCormick brand spices. I did find it
funny how many articles I found. McCormick has done some
really interesting ad campaigns over the years, and one of
(01:11):
them was about like check the expiration date on your spice.
Oh no, oh dear. Yeah, And I've found a lot
of really funny articles about people being like, I'm good,
how dare they tell me to do that and they
find one ten years old. Yeah. So, and you know
(01:35):
during the holidays sometimes you only use certain things around
certain periods of the year, sure, or like in in bulk,
not bulk as the very but you know, more than usual.
And so it was funny.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Oh yeah, especially when you like integrate households or anything
like that. I somehow, and there are a few things
that I feel like you wind up buying more of
without needing because you're like, do I have clothes? Heck it,
I'll just get a bottle of clothes. And that's how
you wind up with like five bottles of whole clothes
sitting in your cupboard. And that's too many clothes. That
(02:11):
is objectively more clothes than anybody needs.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Yes, yes, I do the same. And the part of
it is due to my lack of organization, because when
I'm tired, I'm just like, where can I fit this here? Here?
And then later I'll be like I could have sworn
I bought more ginger, and then I'll go buy more
and then I find over that I haven't opened yet
or anything. Yep, yep, yep, yep. Well we're not alone
(02:38):
in that problem, and McCormick made a whole ad campaign
about it. They also did one of those spice girls.
They tried to do one of the spice girls and
it fell through. But anyway, Oh yeah, I would say, uh,
see our Old Bay episode because a lot of the
things I was reading turned into an article not about McCormick,
but Old Bay. All right, Old Bay seasoning. So see
(03:01):
that episode we did on that one and then other spices.
They actually are involved in a lot more than I
realized they were involved with. But yeah, other spices, Yeah,
which I guess brings us to our question. Sure, McCormick,
what is it? Well.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
McCormick and Company, Incorporated is a corporation that produces and
sells several brands of herbs, spices, sauces, condiments, and dressings,
both to consumers and to like the food manufacturing and
service industry at a global level. They also create custom
flavorings for the food and beverage industry and the health
and wellness industry, and fund a bunch of research into
(03:46):
the potential health benefits of herbs and spices and the
science of like how humans experience taste. If you are
in North America or Europe, I would be willing to bet.
I'm not a betting man, but I would be willing
to bet that you've got something that they have touched
in your home right now, and if you're anywhere else, like, chances.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Are still pretty good. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
They are huge, and they are omnipresent. They're like if
Santa was a flavor corporation. They know when you've been sleeping,
they know you have clothes, yes, yes, Oh, I don't know,
(04:31):
but they do. I wanted to read this explanation of
what they do from their corporate website because I really
adore like corporate website speak all right, and I quote,
McCormick and Company, Incorporated is a global leader in flavor.
With our diverse and balanced flavor portfolio, we are ideally
(04:53):
positioned to meet the increasing demand for flavor around the world.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Flavors. Okay, I don't know how they made it sound
so sinister.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
They did, I don't think, I mean, I mean, it
wasn't just me anyway. In the United States alone, the
McCormick brand alone, Like they have other brands, but they
have a brand that's just McCormick. That brand sells at
least one hundred and four varieties of like spice rack
(05:31):
jars of herbs and spices, and blends thereof. They also
sell ninety three varieties of like seasoning and sauce starter
packets for everything from stir fries to pasta, to chili,
to gravy, to dips, to air fryer fries to like
instapop pot roast. They furthermore got twenty five varieties of
(05:52):
liquid flavor extracts, eight types of fry batters, fourteen prepared
dips and sauces, twenty one blends of things to sprinkle
on top of finished dishes, three products meant solely to
help the texture of your finished food, and currently six
varieties of flavored finishing sugar for your holiday sweets. And
again that is just their like basic home brand marketed
(06:16):
to consumers product line. Wow, Yeah, they're doing a lot,
they are.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
They are.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
They also own about thirty different brands that are popular
in different areas around the world. And I didn't look
up how to say all of these from other countries,
so I'm giving it my best shot, and I'm sorry
if I'm butchering it. Okay, But from the US, there's
familiar stuff like Chilula, frenches, Frank's Red Hot, Lowry's Old
Bay Stubs, Barbecue, Elguappo, Simply, Asia, Thai Kitchen and Zatarines.
(06:54):
Then there's Clubhouse in Canada, Schwartz and the UK, Silvo
in the Netherlands and Portugal, Giotti in Italy, Chemists Chemis
in Poland, Ducros in France, and Aeroplane in Australia. And
some of these brands include like ready to prepare or
heat and eat foods like rice mixes, noodables and gelatin desserts.
(07:16):
In addition to herbs and spices, they produce spice blends
and sauces for the restaurant industry as well at everything
from like gallon jugs to like Little to Go packets.
And they also do invisible work in co creating flavors
with other companies for use in beverages, dairy products, snacks,
baked goods, candy, savory food in general, nutritional supplements and beyond.
(07:41):
They have a proprietary process that they call create It
Registered to help brands like study their place in the
market and come up with ideas that are quick and
easy to implement. They've paired with IBM to create an
AI for flavor development that they call sage.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I see what they did, uh huh. They also developed
like an emotion measurement questionnaire called essence profile to help
product developers measure consumer response to food products. What they
did that, yep.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
More broadly, their research arms look into or fund looking
into nutritional science and food psychology. A lot of recent
work is about like increasing the palatability of foods under
various constraints, you know, like reduced fat, reduced sugar, salt,
reduced cost by using herbs and spices.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Also, every year they release.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
A flavor forecast about trends in the food and beverage industry.
For twenty twenty four, they highlighted sour Power, which is
the increase in sour flavor profiles and foods and drinks
from everything from like citrus to ferments. Thoughtfully borrowed, which
is the like intentional, respectful remixing of traditional cuisines. And
(09:08):
then indulgence redefined, which I think is just talking about
comfort food. But their flavor of the year's Tamarind, which
ties into all three trends. I think they released the
new forecast every January, so we have that to look
forward to.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
To keep an eye on that. One. Yeah, yeah, okay,
well what about the nutrition do not eat giant global corporations,
although that's kind of what McCormick did. Oh oh that's true.
Oh there you go. Yes, I just did finger guns
(09:46):
only Lauren could see it. Yeah, we do have some
numbers for you. Oh my gosh, we do.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Okay, So in twenty twenty three, McCormick did over six
point five billion in sales across about like over one
hundred and fifty countries and territories. About fifty seven percent
of their business is direct to consumers. The other forty
three percent is to manufacturers and food service. They apparently
(10:15):
work with all ten of the top ten restaurant chains worldwide,
creating flavors top ten in what regard exactly, I'm not sure,
but it sounded impressive. The company has some thirteen thousand
employees across twenty nine countries. Among their employees are about
(10:35):
four hundred food scientists working out of twenty technical innovation
centers around the world. They source at least fourteen thousand
ingredients from over forty five thousand farmers in at least
eighty five countries.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Wow, forty five.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Thousand farmers, that's yeah. In the US alone, they produce
over one hundred million spice canisters every year.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Wow. Yeah, I mean I think you would win your bet, Lauren.
I think that in the US you have something that
McCormick is involved with. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yeah, whether it's labeled as such or not, I think
it's a pretty good, pretty good bet.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Yeah. And the story of how that came to be
is not exactly what I would think at least. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yeah, And we are going to get into that history
as soon as we get back from a quick break.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
For a word from our sponsors, and we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes,
thank you. Okay.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
So McCormick and Company goes back to eighteen ninety nine
in Baltimore, when the founder of the company, Willoughby M McCormick,
went door to door selling.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Syrups and extracts. I also read root beer specifically in
some places, but in other places said root beer extract.
But anyway, root beer was involved. Cool At first. He
worked largely out of his basement and his products were
labeled B brand b ee B. Yeah. McCormick was born
(12:27):
in Virginia and developed an interest in food stuffs and
trade while working at a general store in Texas and
through that. He specifically chose Baltimore to do business in
because it was a port city where he would have
access to trade routes, both for ingredients he wanted to
use and to distribute his own products. In his early days,
(12:49):
he sold non food stuffs too, and quite an interesting
array of them, things like Uncle Sam's nerve and bone
liniment or ligament that was quote fit for men or beast,
and a sort of fishy smelling glue that was guaranteed
to stick to everything but the user. I would love
(13:12):
to know if that was true. The spices didn't come
into play until eighteen ninety six, after McCormick purchased the
fg Emmett Spice Company out of Philadelphia. So when I
was kind of joking earlier about them eating other corporations,
that's been a part of their company for a long time. Yes, Yes.
(13:34):
In nineteen oh four, a fire devastated eighty blocks in Baltimore,
McCormick wrote in a letter to his mother, I believe
quote we lost everything but our books, which we got
out at about three o'clock this morning. We had to
run for our lives before the year was even over.
Though he'd opened a five story factory and was back
(13:54):
in business. The company branched out to experimenting with teas
and tea bags, which at the time were often hands owned.
And I almost went on a rabbit hole because I
really wanted to know more about this. Ooh, adding tea
bags to our list. Yes, yes, yes. By the early
nineteen hundreds, McCormick spices were available in stores all over
the US, and the company began expanding into other countries.
(14:18):
In nineteen twenty one, the company completed construction of a
nine story factory and headquarters in Baltimore, and its construction
was the source of a lot of articles about its size.
It was very impressive. Cool, yes, but like many companies,
McCormick was hit hard by the Great Depression. McCormick himself
(14:39):
traveled to New York desperate to get loans to keep
the company afloat. However, he died suddenly of a heart
attack that same year in nineteen thirty two. He didn't
have any children, so the company transferred over to his
relative and vice president, Charles McCormick senior, often called cp
CP switched to key for the company, pivoting away from
(15:02):
the previous cost cutting measures that they had been relying on,
instead giving the employees a ten percent raise. He also
introduced profit sharing and gave out free turkeys to the
employees on Thanksgiving, which, by the way I read they
still hand out coupons for free turkeys. Blisters let me know.
He allowed employees to have a say in how the
(15:23):
company was run. They had these kind of committees they
could form. All of this earned him the label of
communists in some circles, which at the time no, no, no,
But these policies did seem to work. By nineteen thirty three,
the company was once again profitable. As early as the forties,
McCormick started experimenting with spices and spice compounds in a lab.
(15:47):
This was in part due to shortages of spices during
World War Two, and they still have this lab today,
although it has been rebranded gone through some changes. McCormick
acquired San Francisco's A. Shill And Company in nineteen forty seven,
and in doing so ensured McCormick products were available from
coast to coast. Chilian company's history also traced back to
(16:08):
the eighteen eighties, and they'd similarly experienced a natural disaster.
I think it was an earthquake that set them back.
But yeah, by the fifties and sixties their products were
available in Europe, Australia, Mexico, Canada, and South and Central America.
During this time, they were testing and releasing so many
new products and acquiring other companies international and not to
(16:32):
grow their company over the following decades up until today's
again something they still do. In the nineteen sixties, I
Love This, McCormick launched a powdered fizzy drink that was
marketed towards children, called Fun. The ad featured a young
boy excitedly exclaiming, We're going to have fun. Yeah, really good. Right. However,
(17:00):
the foil packets for Fun weren't there yet, the size
was there yet, and they allowed in moisture, not good
for a fizzy drink product, leading to multiple packets exploding
in warehouses and shelves. You can read a really great
first person recounting of this and how it became such
(17:23):
a headache. You'd be on the phone with somebody from
the company you need'd to hear them like exploding the bound. Yeah,
so they shelved Fun and you know, kind of related
jumping ahead a nineteen ninety eight New York Times article
deemed that McCormick was quote more like a museum of
(17:46):
recipes from the nineteen fifties than a reflection of America
at the millennium's cusp. With more women trading in the
ladle for the briefcase, sales of staples like nutmeg, cardamom,
turmeric and mace have suffered badly. Oh, third wave feminism
of the nineteen nineties. Yes, it's so. But also it's
(18:10):
funny looking at it now, looking at the numbers that
you read very wrong.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Yeah, I'm not correct at all. The New York Times
from nineteen ninety eight. In the year two thousand, I
think it's either two thousand or two thousand and seven.
I saw it written in both ways, and some of
the numbers that I gave above also, I'm just like,
I saw different numbers reported in different places. I suspect
(18:39):
because they are such a huge company that they're like,
I don't know, that's sure, cool, whatever you want. Around
the year two thousand, they launched the McCormick Science Institute,
which sponsors research into the nutritional science of herbs and spices.
I'm pretty sure that's also when they first did a
flavor forecast. The flavor forecast we have used stuff from
(19:04):
their science Institute before.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yeah. Yeah. In twenty seventeen, McCormick purchased Frank's Red Hot
and French's Mustard. I know they purchased a bunch of stuff.
I just I feel like I didn't know Frank's Red
Hot and so I put it in here. But yeah, yeah, yeah,
ol Old Bay happened at some point in here. So yeah, yeah,
a bunch of Yeah. McCormick changed the design of their
(19:27):
bottles in twenty twenty three, the first time in forty years,
with snap tight lids, which I don't think i've actually seen.
Oh oh I have some. Yeah, Oh pretty cool. Yeah. Well,
they claim it's to keep the I'm not saying they're wrong,
but they claim it's to keep the flavor in better. Also,
it prevents I've had this happen to me before, when
(19:50):
you're like, oh, and then you pour the whole thing in.
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
I think I think they were also working on like
like streamlining, like use of plastic, and so this uses
less plastic than the traditional screw on caps.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
But yeah, they're slick.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
It's sort of like a like a little you know,
like like like one of those hinged toothpaste lids that
just kind of snaps on.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Yeah. Yeah, but it was a big deal because, yeah,
they hadn't changed it in so long and people are
so familiar with their old screw on lids. But yeah,
they are constantly introducing new lines, new flavors. They're experimenting
all the time. They've also launched a few initiatives to
(20:34):
provide more equitable circumstances for farmers involved in their spices
and products. At this moment, it is unclear whether they
have been successful or not.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Yeah, they have like a lot, a lot, a lot,
a lot of community oriented programs, both for their own
employees and for their farmers. And it seems like they're
not evil or or like they're trying to not be evil.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
M hmm. Hard to say. It's hard to say. Hard
to say, and these are modern times, it's hard to say,
but they do. I think the most recent thing I
read it was saying like it won't be until twenty
twenty five until we can say, until we have the
data to yeah. Yeah, but it seems like yes, they're
(21:24):
they're trying. Yeah, we'll see yeah, but yeah, I personally
would love to hear from listeners about maybe your old
year old spices. Any I mean again, so many recipes.
I would ask for recipes, but it's like, yeah, so
(21:47):
many recipes you can use this McCormick.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Or yeah, if you if you have a if you
have a favorite spice that you just put in everything.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, I mean that's Frank's red hot whole. Oh yeah,
heck yeah, that's the ad campaign. I put that bit
in everything. I'm not ketan to ads. That's great. It
was Betty White. Yeah, that's horrible, old Betty Well.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I think that is what we have to say about
McCormick for now. It is, but we do have some
listener mail for you, and we are going to get
into that as soon as we get back from one
more quick break for a word from our sponsors' back.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you, And we're back with
this ner. Sometimes that ding Andrew puts it in obviously
after we've recorded, and I use it in my inspiration.
(23:01):
That was like putting into spices and the Dean Oh
it's done. Yeah yeah. Eric wrote about several things, starting
with Mounds and almond Joy. Both are good candies and
like the jingle said, it depends if you feel like
a nut or if you don't. It almost seems like
(23:22):
you need to search for them now, as you don't
seem to get them as often as other candy these days.
And yes, the British Bounty is great. I was in
London at the beginning of October for a few days
of work and I grabbed a five pack of the
Dark Chocolate Bounty, along with a five pack of Mars bars,
some kit Cats you can't get here, and some Galaxy
bars for my wife. All of this is so much
(23:44):
better than what we have in my opinion, I have
been rashing them to one a week of each, so
I'll be having my last one soon. You pick farms
are fun depending on what you are picking. In my opinion,
I mean photo ops with boats are great and reason
enough for them, but the crops are a bonus. I'm
done with strawberries as that is just too much bending
(24:07):
over or squatting down for me. We have one we
enjoy that does peaches. There is something about fresh picked
peaches that just makes summer wonderful. Get a couple of
really juicy ones and cut them up into a picture
of some tea and bonus if you cut them over
the tea to get all the juice in. Blueberries are
(24:27):
my other real favorite. Leads to blueberry crumble, blueberry muffins,
and blueberry scones, just to name a few. I just
really hope in these days of climate change that they
will continue. Hopefully we can stop destroying this beautiful planet
and the wonderful bounty of food it can produce. Hearing
about the deer hunt reminded me of those days. I
(24:48):
grew up around a lot of farms and my friends
and I knew a lot of these farmers. The farmers
were great when you got to know them and respected
their land. There were two in particular everyone liked to
hunt on as it was a very straightforward agreement and
saved money. You could coll and haul to their barn
and they would handle the processing for about one fourth
of the meat. That meant you did not have to
(25:09):
lug it to the processor and pay the fees there.
Looking back, I never really thought about it at the time,
but yes, the deer taken on the farms was not
as keamy as the deer taken in the woods well
away from the farms. I get why some people are
against hunting, and there are definitely people out there who
hunt for the wrong reason and in horrible ways. I
just think there needs to be more attention drawn to
responsible hunting and how it can benefit people. I haven't
(25:32):
gone in over thirty years, so I hate to think
what my bow skills would be now. Oh, I hear you.
I have so many friends who keep like teasing me,
like teach me how to do the bow in air,
or teach me how to throw a knife, And I'm like,
at one time I was pretty good at that stuff,
but I haven't done it since I'm in the city,
(25:53):
so I don't think I can. Yeah that was a
minute ago.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Yeah, yeah, we we just need to take you out
for some practice.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
I mean a part of me is like, I hope
it's there would be a learning curve, but it's like
riding a bike. Yeah. But a part of me is like,
I think you, I think you really got to keep
up with some yeah, some of that physical coordination stuff.
I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, well, maybe one
day I'll report back. I do love this bounty of
(26:29):
candy and your rationing of it. I feel like every
time I would go to a different country, I would
do the same thing, where I'd be like, I can't
get this in the United States. So here we go.
And I agree with you about the U pick and
the some is easier than others. Yeah, yes, for sure.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Yeah, if you're taller than like three feet, I feel
like I feel like strawberries are difficult.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
But yes, yeah, good, send the kids out there, let them,
let them get some energy out. But yeah yeah, but
oh no, really good peaches. Yeah, there's nothing quite like it.
A bad peach is so sad, but when you get
a good one, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
I I promised my family and I didn't actually do it.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
This year, but next year.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
There's a there's a relatively local farm in Georgia that
does peaches called Pearson and they have the best heck
in peaches, not a sponsor, just the best hack in peaches.
And yeah, so I'm gonna I'm gonna send them some
boxes of fruit like a true old person.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Yes, embrace it, Laura.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Looking forward to it, Carolyn wrote, never did I think
I'd write in on this oddly specific fact, but here
we are. Ava Max is a pop singer who you've
probably heard and didn't realize who was singing. She has
some pretty good catchy songs. The reason I absolutely had
to write it immediately while the episode is still playing,
mind you, is that her being at a prosecco event
(28:07):
is rather funny to me. Why you ask. One of
her more well known songs, Kings and Queens, includes the
lyrics if all of the kings had their queens on
the throne, we would pop champagne and raise a toast champagne, ladies, Champagne,
not prosecco.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
First of all, thank you, yes, thank you. This is
so great because we mentioned in that Prosecco episode we
neither of us new even Max was, but it was
a good fact, so thank you. I also find I
do find this really humorous because it sounds to me
(28:47):
like Prosecco was trying to like, heard that song and
was like like we get yeah, we got that lady. Yeah,
to be at a prosecco event, it's beautiful all around. Yeah,
that's pretty good. That's pretty good. Well, thanks so much
to both of these listeners for writing in. If you
(29:09):
would like to write to us, you can our emails
Hello at savorpod dot com. We're also on social media.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
You can find us on Twitter, moving into Blue Sky,
Facebook and Instagram at saver pod and we do hope
to hear from you. Savor is production of iHeartRadio. For
more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan
(29:35):
Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and
we hope that lots more good things are coming your
way
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