Retired President, Global Flavors and Extracts, McCormick & Company
Nneka Rimmer is a recently retired consumer packaged goods executive with more than 25 years of experience in global growth and go-to-market strategies, corporate development leadership/talent development, and change management. In 2020, she was named the first Black president in the 135-year history of McCormick & Company. In this role, she was an executive officer and a member of the six-person Management Committee and had global profit and loss responsibilities.
During her tenure at McCormick & Company, Rimmer successfully led the following teams: Corporate Strategy, Information Technology, Corporate Development (M&A), Global Transformation, Global Shared Services, and Global Flavors and Extracts. Under her leadership as chief strategy officer, McCormick substantially transitioned its strategic agenda, with an increased focus on organic and inorganic growth. McCormick executed seven acquisitions under Rimmer’s leadership of M&A, including the largest and most transformational deal in company history, the $4.2 billion acquisition of the French’s and Franks’ brands. In 2021, McCormick regained a position in the Fortune 500, demonstrating the success of the strategies and execution led by Rimmer’s teams during her tenure.
Prior to joining McCormick, Rimmer was the first African American female partner at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where she advised Fortune 100 C-suite executives on global growth, corporate and M&A strategies, leadership/talent development, and change management. While at BCG, she co-authored the acclaimed study: “Winning Practices of Adaptive Leadership Teams.” She was a member of BCG’s North America Leadership Team and held leadership positions in the consumer goods and retail, public sector, and strategy practices.
Rimmer currently sits on the boards of Energizer Holdings, Wellness Pet Company, Wheel Pros, LLC, and the University of Maryland Baltimore Foundation, Inc. She has previously served on the boards of McCormick joint ventures: SupHerb Farms, a business-to-business ingredients provider; Vivanda, a connected consumer digital company; and multiple philanthropic organizations.
She is a graduate of Stanford University with a BS in chemical engineering. She earned her MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and her JD with honors from Northwestern University School of Law.