When Earl Tupper launched his new line of plastic boxes just after the second World War, he struggled to convince shoppers in the US they needed what he was selling. He even found it hard to explain what his product was to a customer base that was unfamiliar with the word “plastic”.
But his early struggles pale in comparison to what Tupperware, the company that bears his name, is today enduring with its very existence hanging in the balance.
The US food storage kingpin filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US on Tuesday evening as the cost of materials, labour, transportation and more climbed, and its losses soared.
The numbers paint a bleak picture. According to its bankruptcy filing, Tupperware has assets of between $500 million and $1 billion but liabilities of somewhere between $1 billion and $10 billion.
“This process is meant to provide us with essential flexibility as we pursue strategic alternatives to support our transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company better-positioned to serve our stakeholders,” Tupperware president and chief executive officer Laurie Ann Goldman said in a statement.
Quite how a company that largely existed to sell plastic food storage boxes with airtight seals can transition to a digital-first operator remains to be seen but it has been in tight spots before, not least shortly after its birth in 1946.
While the use of plastic to keep food fresh for longer was a significant domestic leap, particularly at a time when few homes had fridges, Tupper struggled to make an impact until he had the good luck to find a saleswoman who changed his fortunes.
Without much fanfare, Brownie Wise developed a brand new marketing approach which saw a sales army made up mostly – if not entirely – of women hosting Tupperware parties in potential customers’ homes.
[ Addicted to Tupperware: it's more than just plastic boxesOpens in new window ]
Those customers – again mostly women – invited their friends around to hear the sales patter of the Tupperware agents and were more often than not convinced by the merits of the plastic boxes.
It enjoyed decades of dominance in the market, reached more than 70 countries and became a noun rather than a simple brand name.
But competition grew and grew as did its costs and, while it saw a glimmer of hope in the early days of the pandemic when more people were cooking and baking at home, its renaissance was short-lived. At the start of the summer, it announced it was closing its last factory in the US and laying off its remaining 150 production staff.
The news this week made it clear that the problems ran even deeper and, while it is too soon to say it is the end, Tupperware’s fate may now be sealed.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
