Every week most of us go to a grocery store to buy food. We buy whatever we need and ideally want and 90% of the time we are buying similar items that we bought before. What most of us do not do is look at the names of the items and say who owns the product? if I am buying it is a good investment? who has the biggest market share? is the company worth owning?

In an article by Julie Creswell of the New York Times News Service, one of the aisles in the grocery store says condiments and not far away is spices. On those aisles will be a new giant supplier.

McCormick and Unilver’s food business are merging together. Unilever will selling off the food division and concentrating on the health and beauty aspect of the company. Last year, the food business was 25% of the total revenues.

McCormick’s CEO Brendan Foley, said we believe we created a focused, global flavor powerhouse, scaled, resilient and uniquely concentrated on flavor.

McCormick owns spices on the spice aisle, and brands such as French’s mustard and Stubbs BBQ sauce. Unilever owns Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Knorr soups and bullion cubes. Together the companies will do about $20 billion in annual revenues.

McCormick has reported a 17% increase in sales, but nearly all the growth came from its acquisition of McCormick de Mexico. Without that acquisition sales increased 1% driven by a nearly 2% increase in pricing.

After the deal closes Unilever and its shareholders will own about 2/3’s of the company, McCormick’s shareholders owning the rest.

Last year, Unilever spun off its holdings in Ben and Jerry, Magnum, Breyers and other brands into a separately traded company called the Magnum Ice Cream company.

Unilever started as a margarine company, merged with Lever Brothers a soap company. In the 1940’s bought Birds Eye frozen foods, Breyers Ice Cream in 1993, Ben and Jerry’s Ice cream in 2000 As well as buying Bestfoods which owned Knorr and Hellmann’s.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, sometimes your homework can be what do regular people do and buy, many go to supermarkets. All those brands are owned by somebody, if you are buying maybe it is a good investment? You will need to do your homework, but often times steady reliable earnings are found in the supermarket.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.