Tupperware, Food Container Pioneer, Files for Bankruptcy

The once-mighty kitchenware company has struggled financially for years. It says the direct sales model that fueled its success has become a weakness.

Tupperware Brands, whose name became synonymous with plastic food containers in kitchens across America, filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday after struggling for years with declining sales and increasing competition.

The Tupperware brand was introduced in the 1940s by the chemist Earl Tupper, who developed a clean and durable plastic to create airtight containers. They came to be sold globally, propelled by a direct sales campaign called “Tupperware parties.”

But the strengths of that model became “weaknesses,” the company said in its Chapter 11 filing, saying it failed to develop a diverse sales strategy, including for online shoppers. It also blamed a “challenging macroeconomic environment” over the last several years.

“In stark contrast to the early days of the company, nearly everyone now knows what Tupperware is, but fewer people know where to find it,” Brian J. Fox, Tupperware’s chief restructuring officer, wrote in the filing. Only in 2022 did the company set up a storefront on Amazon and start selling at Target, he added.

Tupperware said it would seek court approval to facilitate a sale and to keep operating during the bankruptcy case, which was filed in Delaware. In filings, Tupperware, along with certain subsidiaries, said that it had assets of about $680 million and debts of $1.2 billion.

The company, which is headquartered in Orlando, Fla., had raised concerns about its financial health for several years. It said in a recent regulatory document that it had begun facing financial headwinds and declining sales in 2019. It cited the Covid-19 lockdowns in China, the war in Ukraine, global supply chain disruptions and the rising price of resin, a chief raw material.

Tupperware said in June that it was closing its only remaining U.S. manufacturing plant, located in South Carolina, and laying off 148 employees there by January.

In its Chapter 11 filing, Tupperware said it had almost 5,500 employees in 41 countries, and more than 460,000 consultants around the world who sell its products as freelancers.

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