Talks Underway for McCormick to Acquire Unilever’s Food Brands

Unilever is in talks to sell its foods business to McCormick & Co., a deal that would put brands such as Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Knorr under new ownership.

In separate statements issued on March 20, both companies confirmed that discussions are underway, while stating that there is no certainty that a deal will be reached.

No financial details have been disclosed, but a combination of Unilever’s foods business and McCormick would create a major force in packaged foods, condiments, and flavorings, with billions of dollars in annual sales. The combined portfolio would span McCormick’s core spices business as well as brands such as Frank’s RedHot, French’s Mustard, Hellmann’s, and Knorr.

“McCormick regularly evaluates its portfolio and strategic options in pursuit of maximizing shareholder value,” the Maryland-based seasoning maker said.

For Unilever, a sale would mark its biggest step by far in a years-long effort to streamline its portfolio and focus more heavily on its faster-growing beauty and personal care units. Those businesses include brands such as Dove and Axe.

A disposal of the foods unit would also further distance Unilever from direct competition with Big Food rivals such as Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, and PepsiCo, while sharpening its identity as a household, beauty, and personal care company.

Unilever was formed nearly a century ago through the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie and British soap maker Lever Bros. Over the past several years, it has steadily shed slower-growth food assets while deepening its focus on health, hygiene, and personal care.

That reshaping has accelerated recently. Last December, Unilever spun off its ice cream business, which includes Talenti, Klondike, and Ben & Jerry’s. It sold its tea business, including Lipton, in 2021, and Country Crock and other spreads in 2017.

Unilever CEO Fernando Fernandez, now a year into the role, has signaled that food is no longer central to Unilever’s long-term growth strategy. Still, he has emphasized that its remaining foods portfolio is highly profitable and strategically flexible.

In an interview published in December 2025 in the wake of the ice cream offload, Fernandez described Unilever’s food unit as “margin-accretive,” “cash-accretive,” and characterized by “low capital intensity.”

Speaking to JPMorgan analyst Celine Pannuti, Fernandez said Hellmann’s and Knorr accounted for about 60 percent of Unilever’s foods business, a figure he said would rise to roughly 70 to 75 percent after the disposal of around 1.5 billion euros (about $1.73 billion) of additional businesses.

“I believe we have a food portfolio that is the envy of the industry,” Fernandez said at the time. “This will give us a lot of optionality in the future.”