Who owns Old Bay?
Old Bay is owned by McCormick (the United States, NYSE: MKC).[1]
Evidence: McCormick & Company, Incorporated Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-01-22, SEC EDGAR, 22 January 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- McCormick & Company, Incorporated verified
- Owner HQ
- 🇺🇸 United States, Hunt Valley, Maryland
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States, Baltimore, Maryland
- Founded
- 1939
- Category
- Food › Condiments, sauces & seasonings › Spices & seasonings
- Parent ticker
- NYSE: MKC
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Old Bay
Old Bay is a celery salt and paprika seasoning created in Baltimore in 1939 by a German refugee, and it is inseparable from Chesapeake Bay crab. Its yellow and blue tin is a regional emblem in Maryland well beyond its function as a spice mix.
Ownership timeline of Old Bay
Where Old Bay sits in McCormick
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full McCormick ownership tree →
See the full McCormick brand portfolio (8) →
Other brands owned by McCormick
McCormick controls 8 brands on Brandtree, 8 of them in food.
Also in food
- Cholula (1989)
- Frank's RedHot (1920)
- French's (1904)
- Lawry's (1938)
- McCormick (1889)
- Schwartz (1938)
- Zatarain's (1889)
Other brands in spices & seasonings, and who owns them
The 44 brands in spices & seasonings on Brandtree belong to 29 owners. The largest is Patisen, with 5; McCormick has 5.
About the owner: McCormick
McCormick is a publicly listed company headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, United States, founded in 1889. Brandtree records 8 brands under its control, and it is listed as NYSE: MKC.
McCormick was founded in a Baltimore cellar in 1889 by an 25-year-old selling flavouring extracts door to door, and is now the largest spice and seasoning company in the world. About half its revenue comes from supplying flavour to food manufacturers and restaurants rather than from its consumer brands.
🇺🇸 Old Bay and other American brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,549 brands that began in the United States. 478 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Old Bay is not one of them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Old Bay?
The parent company of Old Bay is McCormick, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Is Old Bay American?
Yes. Old Bay originated in the United States in 1939 and its owner, McCormick, is also headquartered in the United States.
Is Old Bay still owned by McCormick?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, Old Bay is still owned by McCormick. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] McCormick & Company, Incorporated Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-01-22 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K, published 22 January 2026; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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