The Chairman and CEO of McCormick claimed that the spice maker's business in China has improved in the last weeks despite the adverse effects of the pandemic to the country's economy. He claimed that there were three faces that the country underwent in dealing with the crisis but McCormick stayed healthy as a business from financial losses.
The Chairman of the Board and CEO of McCormick & Company Lawrence Kurzius announced last Thursday that the company is doing quite well in China amid the pandemic. He claimed that its performance improved in recent weeks and that that the Chinese economy is recovering from the crisis.
According to CNBC News, McCormick is the maker of Old Bay Seasoning, French's mustard, and Frank's Red Hot. It currently has three operational plants in China located in Wuhan in Hubei province, the region badly hit by the pandemic.
He claimed that China went through three different phases during the crisis to which the business survived. Kurzius called the phases as "squawk on the street." He further announced that McCormick's business is back in the country and that business operations have resumed in China.
He also announced that all its facilities have reopened, workers are back in their posts, and that business operations are running normally. He also revealed that retail demand from consumers skyrocketed these past weeks. He, however, warned that not everything from its business is back to normal. He claimed that its foodservice sector is still trying to recover from the lockdown effects at a slower pace since only a few people have opted to eat outside of their homes.
Kurzius added that quick-service restaurants and regular good service eateries have opened at a faster pace, but customer traffic is still building up in China. He assumed that it would take a long while for the pace to hasten in the foodservice sector since diminishing consumer confidence and safety concerns remain.
The CEO's contention came after the Chinese government was prodded for a lack of transparency around the crisis. According to Bloomberg, US intelligence officials reported to White House that China deliberately downplayed the effects of the pandemic to the country and limited the reported number of confirmed cases and death.
However, Kurzius and other business leaders whose businesses operate in China took the initiative and revealed their respective business performances and the current economic activity on the ground. They claimed that economic activity has improved in recent weeks.
