Spice giant McCormick nears huge deal with Hellmann's maker Unilever
Spice giant McCormick nears huge deal with Hellmann's maker Unilever
Brian SozziMon, March 30, 2026 at 10:45 PM UTC
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Hellmann's mayonnaise on a hamburger with a dash of Frank's Red Hot Sauce may soon be credited to one monster food maker.
Spice maker McCormick (MKC) is near a deal to combine with Unilever's (UL) food business, according to a source familiar with the matter. A deal could come before the market opens on Tuesday, the source said. McCormick is known for its seasoning and sauces, such as Cholula and French's. Unilever's food brands include Knorr and Hellmann's.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.
Shares of McCormick and Unilever both rose nearly 2% after hours. Their stocks were down 20% and 8% year to date, respectively, before the news.
The potential combination comes as the packaged food industry battles multiple headwinds and falling valuations. Investors are fretting about sticky inflation weighing on margins and the effect of rising GLP-1 adoption on sales.
"We believe intensifying headwinds and emerging challenges have been building for some time to undermine historical assumptions underpinning the US consumer packaged goods investment case," Deutsche Bank analyst Steve Powers warned in a new note on Monday.
"Some of these dynamics may ultimately prove fleeting, temporary, or more cyclical in nature (e.g., macroeconomic or geopolitically derived factors). However, others (e.g, demographic inflections, underlying balance of power shifts in the value chain) are more likely to prove more structural or longer-lasting, in our view."
Big Food is no stranger to deal-making, both bulking up and slimming down.
To name a few, McCormick has aggressively pursued a flavor-first acquisition strategy over the past decade to pivot from traditional spices toward high-growth, high-margin condiments and professional-grade solutions.
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The most transformative move occurred in 2017 with the $4.2 billion acquisition of Reckitt Benckiser’s food division, which brought iconic brands like French's Mustard and Frank's Red Hot sauce into its portfolio. This was followed in late 2020 by an $800 million deal for Cholula Hot Sauce, further solidifying McCormick's dominance in the strong-performing hot sauce category.
Mars completed its acquisition of Kellanova in Dec. 2025 for approximately $35.9 billion. The deal unites Kellanova brands like Pringles, Cheez-It, and Pop-Tarts with Mars’s candy portfolio (M&M's, Snickers) to create a global snacking powerhouse.
Elsewhere, Campbell Soup (CPB) completed its acquisition of Sovos Brands, the parent company of the premium Rao's pasta sauce brand, for roughly $2.7 billion in March 2024.
Hormel (HRL) — known for Applegate organic deli meats, Spam and Hormel branded bacon — in 2021 acquired Planters from struggling Kraft Heinz (KHC) for $3.35 billion.
Meanwhile, investors have increasingly scrutinized Big Food conglomerates – viewing them as bloated cost wise and slow to react to consumer trends. That has led to an activist campaign by Elliott Management against serial acquirer PepsiCo (PEP), for instance.
General Mills (GIS) completed the $2.1 billion sale of its U.S. yogurt business to Lactalis in June 2025 as it focuses on its core cereal and Blue Buffalo pet food businesses.
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor and a member of Yahoo Finance's editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.
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