Dive Brief:
- McCormick is promoting Michael R. Smith to executive vice president and CFO, effective Sept. 1.
- Current executive vice president and CFO Gordon Stetz has held his role since 2007 and has been a board member since 2011. On the effective date, Stetz will continue to serve as executive vice president until he retires on Dec. 31.
- Smith is currently senior vice president of corporate finance and has been with McCormick since 1991, holding financial leadership positions in various regions during that time.
Dive Insight:
Smith has played an integral role in leading McCormick's productivity improvements and the efforts behind the company's goal to reduce $400 million of costs over the next four years, announced in February, McCormick president and CEO Lawrence Kurzius said in a statement. Those cost-cutting measures have already contributed to recent profit boosts, including a 32% profit increase in the last reported quarter.
But Smith's focus will be not just on cost-cutting but also on maintaining the momentum behind McCormick's fast-paced acquisitive growth strategy the company has pursued in recent years. Since 2007, McCormick has closed 12 acquisitions and joint ventures, all with "a consistent focus on flavor" that will carry into the future, Kurzius said during a conference presentation earlier this month.
In April, McCormick walked away from a deal to buy Britain's Premier Foods after negotiations proved unfruitful, though with the unknown implications of Brexit and McCormick sales' already high exposure to the euro, that deal's unraveling may have been a blessing in disguise. But less than a week later, the company announced it was acquiring the Australian manufacturer of chilled, packaged fresh herbs brand Garden Gourmet, which represented a strategic move into the perimeter of grocery stores.
McCormick will announce its latest quarterly earnings results Thursday.