US: Home cooking fuels McCormick profits

By: just-food.com | 25 March 2010

Home cooking has bolstered McCormick

Spice maker McCormick & Co. today (25 March) booked a 17% rise in quarterly profits as more home cooking boosted sales.

The company's net income jumped 17.7% to US$67.9m in the three months to 28 February. Operating income was up 12.2% at $100.8m as sales climbed 6% to $764.5m.

Chairman, president and CEO Alan Wilson said McCormick is planning to "capture" the growing interest in home cooking through new products and "significant" marketing investment.

"In the first quarter we increased brand marketing by 28% and introduced several new products. We are pleased to see sales in local currency for our consumer business up 4% in response to these initiatives," Wilson said.

The McCormick boss said the group's industrial business continued to be hit by a weak restaurant sector but said an efficiency drive had improved profits.

"As a result, we increased operating income for this business more than 30% compared to the year-ago period. Across both businesses, our first quarter performance has us off to a great start in 2010," Wilson said.

Sectors: Commodities & ingredients

Companies: McCormick & Co.