Tupperware files for bankruptcy as demand slides
bbc.com
bbc.com
I agree that their food storage products, which is what Tupperware is most known for, have suffered from the abundance of next best alternatives in the market. However, I just went on their website and all their products and product lines feel so uninspired.
I would blame their decline in demand due to lack of innovation as a way to stay relevant. They could’ve ventured into other areas that capitalise on their ‘airtight’ applications. That’s what made Tupperware unique when it was founded.
For example, a consumer product line of waterproof bags or cases for electronic devices and other important items. Due to brand awareness and trust, they could’ve really leveraged the ‘Tupperware’ brand there in a way that other brands couldn’t.
Or highly invest in R&D for more industrial and scientific applications that require airtight solutions or vacuum spaces. This would’ve created highly lucrative partnerships that would’ve kept them afloat even if sales for their consumer products dwindled.
I suppose they were making a unique product, but it was the grassroots marketing that made them a standout and a household name.
I believe that those suburban home-based "parties" bridged the gap between door-to-door salesmen and catalog/online sales.
In my neighborhood, "Tupperware parties" were not stigmatized or dreaded, but just seemed like a fun way to pick up some durable modern containers.
There really wasn't anywhere for Tupperware to pivot, and the death seems natural.
Edit: I don't know much about hair curlers, but apparently Dyson's airflow expertise gives them an edge here.
At the same time, the trend went away from buying huge packs of stuff that need to be put in a container to not go stale, towards buying smaller-sized packages, for a multitude of reasons.
That said, the German low cost supermarkets sell much cheaper food containers and if you want higher end, brands like Sistema always seem to be better value than Tupperware.
Tupperware has not innovated, patents have expired. Same injection mold plastics that eventually gets color stains from the food.
Cheap knockoffs everywhere.
Higher quality plastic containers available.
Tupperware brand is associated with grandmothers and valued only by them. Younger people don't buy them.
People who are ready to pay more use metallic containers or borosilicate glass containers with plastic lid. Buy one with good silicone-rubber seal lid and they last forever.
There is nothing going on with Tupperware.
Imagine my surprise when it turned out I'd need to go to a Tupperware party to do so.
They have the glass containers and even plastic if you want something more light.
They are safely impilable (the lid is a little shallow)
The best thing about them is the fact that you can buy the lids and containers separately (the hinges of the lids tend to break after sometime)
Where I'm from Tupperware is associated more with multilevel marketing. While plastic containers are common Tupperware branded are not.
Tupperware was only available on those "Tupperpartys" but I don't want to sit through a whole evening when I only want to buy some containers.
I think they have shifted to selling online, too, but they really missed the train and now it's too late.
Qualitywise Tupperware is really great I think. I'm still using containers my mother bought at least 20 years ago.
[1] https://news.unl.edu/article/nebraska-study-finds-billions-o...
You'd be suprised by the amount of people who haven't got the memo.
Every family I knew had the exact same Tupperware pitcher in the fridge, and it was always full of Kool-Aid or Sweet Tea. (Looking on Amazonm this single pitcher is now $38?)
https://www.amazon.com/Tupperware-Floresta-gal-Red-Pitcher/d...
It's gotta be about $0.25 in materials to make. Spending too much money on ads? And not sure where they are spending money -- most of the designs on the Tupperware site seem dated, even "heritage" themed. Ha, so it's not going into R&D!
Anyway I tossed the last of my plastic containers over a decade ago and replaced them with Pyrex Snapware.
Costco will periodically have sales on this set, and I scooped up 3-4 packs (I think I paid $20 / each). Haven't needed to buy anything in a decade, they're all still going strong.
https://www.costco.com/Snapware-Pyrex-18-piece-Glass-Food-St...
How are vibrators narcotic? Am I just not using them right? Is it possible to overdose?
Sex Toy Party:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_toy_party
>A woman was arrested in Texas in December 2003 on obscenity charges for hosting a sex toy party for undercover narcotics officers, but the case was dismissed by the judge in July 2004.
Texas housewife busted for hawking erotic toys / Sales rep for Brisbane firm sold vibrator to undercover agents:
https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/texas-housewife-busted-...
>"It makes you wonder what they're thinking out there in Texas," Davis said. "They sound like prudes, with antiquated laws. They must have all their street crime under control in Texas if they're going to spend tax money arresting us."
>[...] Webb said she was amazed that the town's narcotics squad would be put on the case. "We have a real problem with drugs in our schools," she said, "and they're using our narcotics officers to entrap me for selling a vibrator."
Sex toys and porn on her terms:
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4314184
>Passion Parties, a company in Brisbane, Calif., that markets adult toys such as vibrators, oils and romance kits through home party "consultants," has been in the news lately. It seems the brave police in Burleson, Texas, sensing the danger of women armed with dildos, arrested rep Joanne Webb, 43, because she explained how to use a sex toy. She faces a year in jail for obscenity.
BRISBANE / Vibrator case dismissed in Texas:
https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/BRISBANE-Vibrator-case-...
>She was facing a year in jail for selling the vibrator in October to a pair of undercover officers posing as a dysfunctional married couple.
It makes me wonder how they demonstrated they were dysfunctional?
Sounds like the default state for two people pretending to be in a relationship, tbh. No unity/chemistry lol
I've heard of tupperware parties but I always assumed that it was like a picnic where you brought your own food (in tupperware (or similar) containers) and shared with others.
The host was trained for that before hosting. It was basically a pyramid scheme.
Being presented with an invitation was very rude. And you didn’t know what to do with it.
Tupperware parties were predatory behavior, and you’d host them and pretend everything is alright because you wanted to give the hot potato to someone else.
I wonder if the decline of Tupperware's plastic container use has to do with the fact that people either cook afresh, for 1-2 meals max, use microwaves to heat up ready meals from supermarkets (instead of "cook on Sunday, eat for the whole week") or they go out and grab fast food.
Or people are saving by buying unbranded Chinese plastic containers.
Don't really enjoy how stained plastic containers get with sauces and stuff either, they never "felt" clean afterwards.
For lasagna we cook the ragu etc for multiple times eating, then we prepare the glass boxes as if they went to the oven, but put them to the freezer. Finishing this is basically: put the box from the freezer to the oven, then turn on the oven and bake for ~75minutes instead of the usual 60.
IKEA and DM (in Germany) have also nice glass boxes which are not as expensive as the Pyrex ones, but especially the cover of the Pyrex are better IMO.
I imagine many folks associate Tupperware with “those old stained and warped plastic lids in the back of the cupboard”.
Plus, people are becoming aware that plastic containers suck and they prefer buying glass container for home use, since they're easier to clean and don't get permanently stained.
I am using a fairly pungent dish detergent, which keeps the bugs away, but every plastic vessel would readily absorb the scent, and I stopped wanting to store or eat anything in them.
Now, I avoid immersing any plastics in the sink until I'm ready to rinse immediately, so it's an extra step of labor, for the privilege of plastics.
Although if you look at the history of “Tupperware Brands” there is definitely some financial fuckery going on which I’m sure took away from producing actual products.
Glass and silicone tap is heavier but more clean and removes the risk of plastic leaking chemicals on the food.
Used as directed, as safe as anything else. Sort of like talc...
Transparent silicon should be more inert than dyed silicon. I assume that they should be using food grade colorants in any case.
That is apparently what you get for producing good multi-generations products.
I made a purposeful switch away from plastic food storage a few years ago. I imagine Tupperware suffered a loss at the top to glassware and at the bottom to cheaper alternatives.