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MKC--McCormick CEO sees 'opportunity' with Amazon/Whole Foods deal

Chart at the bottom of this post, at the 200 day MA, nice entry point?

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2017/06/29/mccormick-ceo-sees-opportunity-with-amazon-whole.html

McCormick & Co. Inc. CEO Lawrence Kurzius says Amazon Inc.'s blockbuster deal to acquire Whole Foods Market should benefit the spice maker.

Amazon's $13.7 acquisition of Whole Foods is expected to shake up the entire consumer food industry and put pressure on pricing and operating margins. Sparks-based McCormick is a major customer of the online retail giant and has invested in e-commerce, so Kurzius said he thinks the company is "well positioned" to succeed.

"We do think that this probably has more opportunity for us than risk," Kurzius told analysts during an earnings call with analysts Thursday. "We think we are well positioned based on our relationship with Amazon."

McCormick (NYSE: MKC) is one Amazon's second-largest customers, Kurzius said, with only one customer having a larger account team. Last year, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) named McCormick its "Grocery Vendor of the Year."

On the other hand, McCormick does not have as strong of a relationship with Austin-based Whole Foods, Kurzius said.

Some of McCormick's products, like Old Bay and the Thai Kitchen brand are already sold at Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFM), but its core spices and seasonings "are pretty light" and "under represented," so the Amazon deal should help get more of McCormick's products on Whole Foods shelves.

McCormick is seeing almost "triple-digit growth" in its e-commerce sales, further enhancing the company's outlook if Amazon completes the acquisition.

"We are doing the right thing by over-resourcing this classic trade and continuing to build a sales channel with the true play e-commerce customers and to continue to work to market our product directly to the consumer with the great digital, social and mobile marketing programs that we have," Kurzius said.

Amazon's deal will also likely pressure retailers to consolidate, Kurzius said, but added that the "smart traditional retailers" have already started their own e-commerce programs "to try to capture the change in shopping behavior of their consumers."

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