The company that marketed its products with home invitations was left behind by competitors and a changed world.
The traditional American plastic product company Tupperware is in serious trouble and is looking for additional funding to be able to continue its operations, the financial media say. The company’s stock market price has decreased by more than 90 percent within a year, when the increase in sales brought by the corona pandemic turned out to be short-lived.
The New York Stock Exchange has warned that the company may be delisted if it does not soon publish its delayed 10-K annual report from last year, which is a thorough investigation of the company’s status and operations required by stock exchange legislation. Tupperware has announced that it will aim to deliver the report within a month.
The success of Tupperware, which is now in trouble, began in the 1950s and 60s, when its plastic storage products began to be sold by house calls, first in the United States and later also in other parts of the world. The selling point was the hermetically sealed lid of the storage containers, which helped preserve food better in the home’s refrigerator and cupboards.
Later, the company’s business model began to lag behind its time, when women moved more and more into working life and home demonstrations were no longer interesting in the former model.
Recent difficulties have been exacerbated by rising interest rates and rising costs of raw materials, which have forced Tupperware to raise its prices, while rival storage product manufacturers have taken over the market.
The company has a subsidiary in Finland and other Nordic countries founded in 1962, and the products are marketed with the help of consultants.
This is what Tupperware invitations looked like in 1969: