To Our Stakeholders, From Our CEO

McCormick is a global leader in flavor operating in two segments, Consumer and Flavor Solutions, providing flavor and inspiring healthy choices across the globe. We have a proud legacy of doing what’s right for people, communities where we live, work, and source, and the planet we all share. Our Purpose-led Performance (PLP) principle is an expression of this legacy, and it’s our ongoing commitment to delivering top tier financial performance while doing what’s right conveyed through our purpose: To Stand Together for the Future of Flavor. Consideration for people, communities and our planet is embedded in our overall business strategy and therefore integrated into our day-to-day decision making process, including when presented with some of the unique challenges we have faced globally in 2022.

In 2017, we introduced a series of PLP commitments and clear performance targets for 2025 in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Our own goals are closely aligned to these globally-recognized objectives because as a company we have a responsibility to contribute to solutions for some of the world’s most pressing issues.

I am proud of our progress to date against our People commitments. At McCormick, we know our employees are our biggest asset and, in 2022, we enhanced our training and development opportunities by launching McCormick University as the overall umbrella to learning in alignment with our goal to have 95% of exempt employees connected to our global people management solution with active learning and development goals. 

Our diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have continued to increase the representation of women and ethnically diverse talent (EDT) throughout the organization, with the goal of women in 50% of leadership positions globally and EDT in 30% of leadership positions in the US by 2025. Health and wellbeing programs have been introduced globally and we are working to engage our employees to achieve not only our PLP goals but also a broader positive impact on their local communities and the environment. Our initiatives to increase employee volunteering and giving through corporate programs led to over $10.4 million being donated to charitable organizations globally, and we began the rollout of our new digital platform to more efficiently track employee participation.

Supporting the farming communities in our supply chain is a major priority as part of our sustainable sourcing program. We have positively impacted the lives of over 31,000 farmers who grow our branded iconic herbs and spices by enabling them to increase their resilience. Our goal is to reach 35,000 farmers by 2025, which represents 90% of smallholder farmers in our key iconic herbs and spices supply chains.

In 2021, we unveiled our long-term goal to achieve Net Zero by 2050, with a near-term greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goal in line with the Paris Agreement, to limit global warming to 1.5˚C. Our new goal aims for a 42% reduction by 2030, having accomplished our 2025 scope 1 and 2 emissions goal 4 years early. Since 2020, we have achieved a 40% reduction in our scope 1 and 2 emissions, through a combination of operational efficiencies and investing in renewable energy. In addition, our scope 3 emissions reduction goal has also been set at 42% by 2030, and now incorporates our packaging carbon footprint goal which previously targeted a 25% reduction in packaging carbon footprint by 2025. We are also continuing to partner with our industry peers to support our collective suppliers in reducing their GHG emissions through the Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition program. Another highlight of 2022 was our ability to sustainably source 100% of our branded vanilla and we are confident in achieving our goal to sustainably source 100% of our top five branded iconic ingredients (black pepper, cinnamon, red pepper, oregano and vanilla) by 2025.

While tremendous strides have been made to achieve our PLP goals, we recognize there are still areas for improvement. Our goal to achieve 100% of plastics packaging that can be reused, recycled or repurposed by 2025, has been extended to 2030. Today, 84% of our packaging meets our target as flexible packaging remains a challenge for the entire industry. We remain committed to solving this issue and will continue to explore solutions as technology develops. This year we also decided to reframe one of our goals to drive better health outcomes to reflect our commitment to make health & wellbeing programming available to all employees as a foundational step in our journey. Our new goal is for 100% of our employees to have access to health & wellbeing programs.

McCormick’s efforts continue to be recognized externally. We were honored to be included on the FTSE4Good Index Series for the first time in 2022, as well as the Fortune 2022 Change the World list. McCormick was named by Just Capital as one of America’s Most JUST Companies for 2023, and most recently included in the Corporate Knights Global 100 Sustainability Index as the No. 1 most sustainable corporation in the Food Products sector for the seventh consecutive year and No. 1 in the Consumer Staples sector for 2023. We’re proud to be recognized for our achievements but we know we can continue to enhance our impact. We don’t embed Purpose-led Performance throughout our business to garner awards, we do it to positively impact society and to successfully drive our global business.

In this year’s Progress Report, we have provided updates on our 2025 and 2030 goals and highlighted a few of our many purpose-led initiatives globally. Throughout the report, you’ll find links to additional information on the policies and procedures by which we plan to achieve our goals, as well as to a more detailed decarbonization pathway, and GRI, SASB and TCFD guidelines.

I’m incredibly proud of the progress made in working towards our PLP goals. Purpose-Led Performance is a journey, and we all have a role to play in positively impacting people, the communities where we live, work and source and the planet we share.

We look forward to sharing more about this journey with you in 2023 and beyond.

Lawrence Kurzius
Chairman and CEO
McCormick & Company, Incorporated