Timeline: Tupperware - from a US household brand to an indebted kitchenware maker

Tupperware Brands

18/09/2024 15:06

Sept 18 (Reuters) - Tupperware Brands  TUP.N  filed for
bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, after years of struggling with
poor demand for its food storage containers and rising financial
losses.
    Here's a look at some of the key moments in the journey of
the brand that was once the mainstay of American kitchens:
    
    1940's
    The company is named after chemist Earl Tupper, who invented
the plastic containers from waste polyethylene slag generated
from the oil refining process at DuPont's factory. 
    Mass-produced in myriad colors after the Great Depression to
help war-weary families save money on food waste, the designs do
 not sell at department stores.
    Brownie Wise, an advice columnist, collaborates with Tupper
to shift to a "party plan" marketing strategy by holding Patio
Parties where she recruited women to sell for her, according to
Smithsonian Magazine.
    Wise's strategy boosts Tupperware's popularity. One woman
she recruited sells 56 bowls in one week, according to the
magazine.
    
    1950's
    Wise, the creator of the Tupperware party, is made
vice-president of marketing for Tupperware Parties Inc.
    Tupper patents the "Tupper Seal", which refers to the
airtight and leak-proof nature of its container lids that kept
food leftovers fresh.
    However, in 1958 after gaining success, Tupper decides to
sell the business to Rexall Drugs, now Dart Industries, for $16
million and fired Wise. 
    
    1960's
    Tupperware's new owner expands the business to Europe,
Central and South America, which quickly accelerates its
overseas, often through in-person sales techniques like
Tupperware parties.
    
    1970s
    The company branches out to make different containers and
also entered the toy market. 
    Tupperware came to be best-known for the Shape-O Toy, a
bright plastic ball with cutouts that correspond to yellow
plastic shapes. The colorful plaything is still sold, according
to food blog Chowhound.
    Sales exceeds half a billion in 1976, according to
Encyclopedia website.
    
    1980s
    Founder Tupper dies in 1983 and several of Tupperware's
patents expire. 
    Several rivals from off-brand plastic food storage
containers to major players like Rubbermade and Glad enter the
market with cheaper alternatives to Tupperware. 
    Its sales and profit start to slip, also because of a labor
problem stemming from women joining the workforce, limiting
their time to attend parties.
    In 1986, Dart Industries and Kraft Inc. split, reversing
their 1980 merger, making Tupperware a part of a new company,
Premark International. It refreshes products to include Sandwich
Keeper and Lunch 'N Bags sets.
    
    1990s
    Sales in the U.S. declined even though international
business grew. Rick Goings, executive at direct sales leader
Avon, took over as president in 1992.
    The company moves into direct mail, sending out unsolicited
catalogs in 1992 in a bid to cut costs and step up recruiting
efforts for sales. 
    Profits improve through the mid-1990s, partly due to 
massive product innovation between 1994 and 1996, according to
the Encyclopedia website.
    In May 1996, Premark spun off Tupperware, which then listed
on the New York Stock Exchange as an independent public company.
    
    2000s
    Business slows and the company forges a deal with Target
Corp, allowing the retail chain to sell its plastic containers
in its U.S. stores in 2002.
    
    2020s
    Tupperware enjoys a resurgence in sales and popularity
during the pandemic as more Americans returned to cooking at
home amid travel curbs.
    But as the restrictions eased, the company's margins take a
blow from a spike in costs tied to raw materials as well as
labor and freight.
    The business take a further hit from a proliferation of free
restaurant to-go boxes after a pandemic-era carryout orders and
a rise in competition from Newell Brands, which makes
Rubbermaid, FoodSaver and Ball glass jars and Clorox's GladWare.
    The company's stock slumps in 2023 as it raises
going-concern doubts, delays annual report and breaches credit
obligations.
    The stock gets caught in "meme stock" frenzy, where retail
investors coordinate on social media and focus their bets on
struggling companies with high short interest.
    In September, Bloomberg News reports that the company is
preparing to file for bankruptcy. A day later, it files for
bankruptcy protection, but said it would continue to sell 
products during the proceedings.
    
    

 (Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun
Koyyur)
 ((Savyata.Mishra@thomsonreuters.com;))