From one room and a cellar, he sold his initial products door-to-door, which included root beer, flavoring extracts, fruit syrup, and juices.

[7] Willoughby's nephew Charles P. McCormick (1896–1970), began working for the company in the summer of 1912, during his high school years at Baltimore City College.

The company celebrated its centennial in 1989 with events primarily for employees and those responsible for its success, and arranged for the musical group Up with People to give a series of performances across the U.S. for schools, churches, hospitals, and similar organizations.

It acquired Ben-Hur Products, a similar California-based company, in 1953, and Canada's largest spice firm, Gorman Eckert & Co. Ltd. of London, Ontario, in 1959.

The McCormick (east) and Schilling (west) retail units were consolidated to form a Grocery Products Division in 1975 with headquarters in Baltimore.

Setco, a plastic bottle producer in Culver City, California, and Stange, Chicago's specialty flavorings and colorings company, became subsidiaries in 1981.

The company acquired Paterson Jenks, a publicly held United Kingdom corporation, in 1984, and Schwartz, the largest British spice line.

McCormick's 1994 acquisitions included Grupo Pesa of Mexico, Tuko Oy of Finland, Butto of Switzerland, and Minipack of Southampton, United Kingdom.

[13][14][15] In 2008, McCormick acquired Billy Bee Honey Products of Canada, and the Lawry's brand of seasonings and marinades in its largest acquisition in company history for the next ten years.

[19] During that year, it also acquired Kamis S.A., a privately held Polish company with leading brands in spices, seasonings, mustards and other flavor products in Poland for $291 million.

[21] In mid-2013, the company completed its acquisition of Wuhan Asia-Pacific Condiments Co. Ltd. (WAPC), a seasoning manufacturer in the central region of China with the Daqiao and ChuShiLe bouillon products.

Kurzius was a leader at McCormick for 12 years before the announcement and previously held positions at Uncle Ben's, Mars Inc., and Quaker Oats Company.

[3][29] In February 2019, McCormick announced that it worked with IBM to build an artificial intelligence (AI) system to analyze decades of data to develop new flavor combinations and seasoning mixes.

In 2018, the company's 1,100-employee global headquarters moved from Sparks back to Hunt Valley with a grand opening held on October 2, 2018.