Tupperware in Trouble
| Case Code: MKTG474 Case Length: 11 Pages Period: 1946-2024 Pub Date: 2025 Teaching Note: Available |
Price: Rs.300 Organization : Tupperware Brands Corporation Industry : Home Appliances & Consumer Products Countries : United States Themes: Brand Revival, Brand Strategy |
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts
Excerpts
Colorful Containers Losing Popularity
Despite all its efforts to meet the fast-changing consumer needs through innovation, Tupperware’s sales plummeted. Partnering with Target did not fetch it the mileage it was expecting. Analysts opined that the products did not attract the young, tech-savvy generation who preferred to shop for trendy products and from online platforms. Tupperware’s sales plunged from $1.8 billion in 2019 to $1.6 billion in 2020. In 2020, the company initiated a turnaround plan to right-size its cost structure and streamline its operations..
Failed Turnaround Attempts
Tupperware sales saw a downward trend from 2014 when its annual revenue plunged from $2.6 billion to reaching $1.6 billion in 2019. .(Refer to Exhibit III for more financial details) Debt, on the other hand, kept increasing year after year. In 2020, Tupperware initiated a three-year turnaround plan with the goal of achieving long-term, profitable growth. The plan's three major objectives were to restructure debt, sell non-core assets to increase liquidity, and fix the core business to increase sustainability..
Bankruptcy Filing
By 2023, the company reported a total debt of $705.4 million. With mounting loses and dwindling demand, Tupperware finally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024. In the bankruptcy announcement the company mentioned, “Tupperware will seek Court approval to continue operating during the proceedings and remain focused on providing its customers with its award-winning, innovative products through Tupperware sales consultants, retail partners and online..
Road Ahead
According to Spencer Winters of Kirkland & Ellis, Tupperware’s attorney, Tupperware resisted the lenders’ attempt to promptly foreclose on the company’s assets after the purchase of debts made by the lenders earlier, citing that the company should be permitted to sell its assets in an open and transparent manner in court-supervised auction proceedings..
Exhibits
Exhibit I: Tupperware’s Business Model
Exhibit II: Tupperware’s Annual Sales (in $billions) (1993-2022)
Exhibit III: Tupperware’s Annual Revenue (in billion US$)
Exhibit IV: Tupperware’s Achievements under the Turnaround Plan
Exhibit V: Tupperware Brand’s Annual Net Income/Loss (in Million US$) (2019-2023)
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