As my top pick for 2019 I have a conservative stock for you to consider — McCormick & Company (MKC), the world's leading provider of spices, suggests Jim Powell, editor of Global Changes & Opportunities Report.

The company also offers a wide variety of herbs, seasonings, and many blended flavorings. Brands include McCormick, French, Lawry's, Club House, Frank's RedHot, and Gourmet Garden – to name only a few.

A big part of McCormick's business is providing custom-blended flavorings to food industry customers who use them in their distinctive products.

Many popular processed foods contain McCormick's products. Often the same products can be sold in different markets where people have different taste preferences, simply by altering the flavorings.

In recent years McCormick also started to produce several regional and ethnic foods, such as Zatarain's, Stubb's, Thai Kitchen, and Simply Asia.

Several foods are also produced for companies that sell them as private label products. McCormick's products are sold throughout the world. They are even shipped to US science stations in Antarctica.

McCormick is what I call a wallflower company. Nearly everyone — including most individual investors – uses its products but have little knowledge of the company that produces them — even though it has been in business since 1889 (one of America's oldest.)

However, McCormick is a favorite of institutional investors that have been buying the stock for over a century. It would be difficult to find a pension fund, insurance company portfolio, or college endowment fund that doesn't include McCormick. I think McCormick is a great choice for risk-averse long-term investors.

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