The father of historical tapers is on the verge of bankruptcy

who wanted to say Earl Tupper of those pieces of polyethylene (a material that was then considered waste in the oil refining process) with which he decided to start experiments in the early forties will leave an indelible mark in the history of consumption. As indelible as seventy years later the Tupperware company will start producing gold with its lunch boxesthe last name of this inventor continues to give its name to all plastic containers with lids sold on the market.

But Tapperware’s is a story that doesn’t seem to have a happy ending. A few days ago, the multinational admitted that there were “significant doubts” about its ability to continue operating. Considering the difficult situation it is in, the company decided to engage financial advisors with the aim of obtaining complementary financing from new investors. Therefore, she assumed that she did not have the necessary liquidity to survive. And the reaction was not long in coming. Shares do not stop posting red numbers on the stock exchange, where in the worst days (Monday, April 10) they fell by more than 48 percent.

«Tupperware does everything in its power to soften the blow recent events and we are taking immediate steps to seek additional financing and resolve our financial situation,” said the company’s CEO, Miguel Fernández.

Experts say the big problem is that pulling Tupperware did not know how to adapt to the weather and continue to accept a business model that, despite the fact that it has been a true repulsion and a complete success for decades, has little experience today. Because the business formula is (too) similar to the one he applied in his beginnings Earl Tupper. The great breakthrough of this inventor occurred in 1946, when the possibility of inventing hermetic lids that prevented the spillage of food in plastic containers flashed through his mind. His business journey began hand in hand with retail stores in different parts of the United States. But the distribution strategy did not quite materialize. Many customers were not used to this way of storing food and many did not know how to use it exactly. AND Tupper was forced to rethink the logistics. Then the company signed a real mastermind who dreamed of a Tupperware revolution: Brownie Wise. This divorced woman with a child took plastic containers to the top of the Olympus of invention. He had charisma and experience. She specializes in selling cleaning products at meetings formed by small groups of women. Tupper wanted to replicate this model with its products. And that was a complete hit.

The known Tupperware parties he began to achieve success in the United States. And these were not important meetings only for women in their fifties and sixties. And that these meetings were where a group of friends and neighbors gathered to find out about the latest Tupperware catalog items They have been repeated over the years.

Wise was named vice president of the company and ran a marketing campaign with unprecedented success. To the extent that she herself became a benchmark of the fifties. She was the first woman to appear on the cover Business week. Already a celebrity, his relations with Tupper began to crack in 1958 The decision dismissed the board of directors, which at the time consisted only of men. the same year, Tupper decided to sell the company to Rexall Drug for $16 million at the time.

For years, success continued to add profits to their accounts. But the 21st century has not been kind to the company. The maligned fame that plastic carries with it, added to globalization, has populated the market with quite similar and much cheaper options, seriously hurting the company. Covid gave them some air. During the worst months of the pandemic, with families confined to their homes cooking, their sales soared. But the vein was transient and the company must now reconsider. It is about its 70-year history.