Tupperware

Tupperware is an American home products line that includes

preparation, storage, and serving products for the kitchen and
Tupperware Brands
home. In 1942, Earl Tupper developed his first bell-shaped Corporation
container; the brand products were introduced to the public in
1946.
Type Subsidiary
Tupperware develops, manufactures, and internationally distributes
its products as a wholly owned subsidiary of its parent company Founded 1946 in Leominster,
Tupperware Brands; as of 2007, it was sold by means of Massachusetts
approximately 1.9 million direct salespeople on contract.[2] Founder Earl Tupper
Products Preparation, storage,
In 2013, the top marketplace for Tupperware was Indonesia,
serving products for
which topped Germany as the second. Indonesia's sales in 2013
the kitchen and
were more than $200 million.[3] home, and beauty
products
Revenue US$2.26 billion
Contents (2017)
Number of 13,500 (2010)[1]
Company history
employees
Tupperware parties
Parent Tupperware Brands
Gender aspects and cultural influence tupperwarebrands
Website
See also .com ([Link]
References [Link])

Further reading
External links

Company history
Tupperware was developed in 1946 by Earl Tupper (1907-1983) in
Leominster, Massachusetts.[4] He developed plastic containers to be
used in households to contain food and keep them airtight, which
featured a then-patented "burping seal". Tupper had already
invented the plastic for Tupperware in 1938, but the product
succeeded with the emergence of the "sale through presentation"
idea, held in a party setting.[5]

Tupperware developed a direct marketing strategy to sell products

known as the Tupperware party. The Tupperware party enabled Tupperware containers from 2011
women of the 1950s to earn an income while keeping their focus in
the domestic domain.[6] The "party plan" model relies on
characteristics generally assumed of housewives (e.g., party planning, hosting a party, sociable relations
with friends and neighbors).
Brownie Wise (1913–92) recognized Tupperware's potential as a commodity. She realized that she had to
be creative and therefore started to throw these Tupperware parties.[7] Wise, a former sales representative of
Stanley Home Products, developed the strategy.[8] As a result, Wise was made vice president of marketing
in 1951. Wise soon created Tupperware Parties Inc.[9]

During the early 1950s, Tupperware's sales and popularity exploded, thanks in large part to Wise's
influence among women who sold Tupperware, and some of the famous "jubilees" celebrating the success
of Tupperware ladies at lavish and outlandishly themed parties. At a time when women came back from
working during World War II only to be told to "go back to the kitchen",[10] Tupperware was known as a
method of empowering women and giving them a toehold in the postwar business world.[11][12] The
tradition of Tupperware's "Jubilee" style events continues to this day, with rallies being held in major cities
to recognize and reward top-selling and top-recruiting individuals, teams, and organizations.

Tupperware spread to Europe in 1960 when Mila Pond hosted Tupperware parties in Weybridge, England,
and other locations around the world. At the time, a strict dress code was required for Tupperware ladies,
with skirts and stockings (tights) worn at all times, and white gloves often accompanying the outfit.[13] A
technique called "carrot calling" helped promote the parties: representatives would travel door-to-door in a
neighborhood and ask housewives to "run an experiment" in which carrots would be placed in a
Tupperware container and compared with "anything that you would ordinarily leave them in"; it would
often result in the scheduling of a Tupperware party.[13]

Rexall, by now the owner of the Tupperware brand, sold its namesake drugstores in 1977, and renamed
itself Dart Industries. Dart merged with Kraftco to form Dart & Kraft. The company demerged, with the
former Dart assets renamed Premark International. Tupperware Brands was spun off from Premark in 1996;
Premark was acquired by Illinois Tool Works three years later.[14]

In 2003, Tupperware closed down operations in the UK and Ireland, citing customer dissatisfaction with
their direct sales model.[15] There has been limited importer-based distribution since then.[16] The company
announced a formal relaunch in the UK in mid-2011,[17] and recruited UK staff, but in December the
relaunch was cancelled.[18]

In May 2018, the Israeli daily TheMarker, reported that Tupperware will withdraw from Israel leaving
2,000 agents without a job. The article attributed this decision to the regional headquarters which manages
other Middle Eastern countries.[19] Tupperware Israel relaunched in December 2020 as an online shop.[20]

In March 2021 Tupperware closed down in the Netherlands.[21]

In August 2022 Tupperware announced it would be leaving the New Zealand market in late 2022.[22]

On November 2, 2022, after publishing quarterly results, the company said its inability to maintain
compliance with its credit agreement raises substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going
concern. The stock value dropped more than 40%.

Tupperware is now sold in almost 100 countries, after peaking at more than a hundred in 1996.[23] Its
headquarters are located in Orlando Florida.

According to Yale's Chief Executive Leadership Institute, Tupperware is listed as a company that has
refused to curtail its business in Russia after the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine.[24]

Tupperware parties
Tupperware is still sold mostly through a party plan, with rewards
for hosts and hostesses. In some countries like New Zealand,
products can be purchased online without a salesperson. A
Tupperware party is run by a Tupperware "consultant" for a host or
hostess who invites friends and neighbors into their home to see the
product line. Tupperware hosts and hostesses are rewarded with
free products based on the level of sales made at their party. Parties
also take place in workplaces, schools, and other community
groups.
A Tupperware party in the 1950s, as
To stay in touch with its sales force, Tupperware published the
shown in a company advertisement
monthly magazine Tupperware Sparks. The magazine had
snapshots of saleswomen posing with awards and recognition for
high sales. To avoid spending money on advertising, Tupperware created events that attracted free
publicity.[25]

In most countries, Tupperware's sales force is organized in a tiered structure with consultants at the bottom,
managers and star managers over them, and next various levels of directors, with Legacy Executive
Directors at the top level. In recent years, Tupperware has eliminated distributorships in the US.

The multi-level marketing strategy adopted by Tupperware has been criticized as manipulative.[26] Statistics
released by Tupperware in 2018 showed that 94% of its active distributors remained on the lowest level of
the pyramid, with average gross earnings of $653.[27]

In recent years, Tupperware in North America has moved to a new business model which includes more
emphasis on direct marketing channels and eliminated its dependency on authorized distributorships. This
transition included selling through Target stores in the US and Superstores in Canada with disappointing
results. Tupperware states this hurt direct sales.[28] In countries with a strong focus on marketing through
parties (such as Germany, Australia, and New Zealand), Tupperware's market share and profitability
continue to decline.[29]

In many countries, Tupperware products have a lifetime guarantee.

The company is best known for its plastic bowls and storage
containers. In recent years it has expanded into stainless steel
cookware, cutlery, chef's knives, and other kitchen gadgets. After
experiencing a slump in sales and public image in the mid-1990s,
the company created several new product lines to attract a younger
market.

In some countries including Belgium, Australia, Ireland, and the

US Tupperware markets its parties and career opportunities through
mall kiosks.

In China, Tupperware products are sold through franchised

"entrepreneurial shopfronts", of which there were 1,900 in 2005,
due to pyramid selling laws enacted in 1998.[30][31] The Chinese
characters 特百惠 are used as the brand name, and translate as
Colourful Tupperware containers

"hundred benefit".
An episode of All in the Family featured Edith hosting a Tupperware party.

Gender aspects and cultural influence

Feminist views vary regarding the Tupperware format of sales
through parties and the social and economic role of women
portrayed by the Tupperware model. Opposing views state that the
intended gendered product and selling campaign further
domesticates women, and keeps their predominant focus on
homemaking.[32] The positive feminist views consider that
Tupperware provided work for women who were pregnant or
otherwise not guaranteed their position at work due to unequal
gender laws in the workplace. The company promoted the
Typical Tupperware
betterment of women and the opportunities Tupperware offered
women. The negative view includes the restriction of women to the
domestic sphere and limiting the real separation between running
the household and a career.[6] The emergence of Tupperware in the American market created a new kind of
opportunity for an underrepresented labor demographic: women, and especially suburban housewives.

See also
Food portal

Technology portal

Gold party
Hana Cobi Plastic aka Lock & Lock
Newell Rubbermaid
Tub (container)

References
1. "Form 10-K Annual Report Filed Feb 22, 2011 (FY 2010)" ([Link]
0727085933/[Link]
1008654). Tupperware Inc./SEC Filing. Archived from the original ([Link]
[Link]/[Link]?filingID=1193125-11-42252&CIK=1008654) on 2012-07-27.
2. Cortese, Amy (July 7, 2007). "Tupperware Freshens Up the Party" ([Link]
2007/07/07/business/[Link]). The New York Times. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
3. Cochrane, Joe (March 2015). "Tupperware's Sweet Spot Shifts to Indonesia" ([Link]
[Link]/2015/03/01/world/asia/[Link]?_r=0).
The New York Times. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
4. "Earl Silas Tupper" ([Link] [Link].
Retrieved 2013-02-28.
5. Tupperware Documentary ([Link] retrieved
2022-10-05
6. Clarke, Allison J. (1999) Tupperware, Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 192–
193. ISBN 1560989203.
7. Maurer, Elizabeth (2017). "Social Marketing Before the Internet" ([Link]
org/articles/social-marketing-internet). National Women's History Museum.
 8. "Secret History Of: Tupperware" ([Link]
[Link]). The Independent. 2010-10-08. Retrieved 2017-08-12.
9. Bax C. (2010). "Entrepreneur Brownie Wise: Selling Tupperware to America's Women in the
1950s". Journal of Women's History. 22 (2): 171–180. doi:10.1353/jowh.0.0159 ([Link]
g/10.1353%2Fjowh.0.0159). S2CID 154411167 ([Link]
54411167).
10. Wortz, Eleanor Thompson. "Fly Gals of World War II" ([Link]
Robertson Publishing. Retrieved September 25, 2011.
11. Goudreau, Jenna (February 14, 2011). "The Tupperware Effect, Empowering Women
Around The World" ([Link]
e-effect-empowering-women-around-the-world-rick-goings-jobs-hiring-employment/).
Forbes.
12. "Empowering the Community at Risk: The Partnership of PT Tupperware Indonesia and
HOPE worldwide" ([Link]
pperware_HOPE_Case.pdf) (PDF). Public Health Institute. October 2009. Archived from the
original ([Link] (PDF) on 2012-07-11.
Retrieved 2012-03-21.
13. "What is today's American Dream?" ([Link]
3). BBC News. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
14. "Premark International, Inc. | [Link]" ([Link]
cs-and-business-magazines/premark-international-inc). [Link]. Retrieved
2022-10-11.
15. "Party Is over for Tupperware UK" ([Link] BBC
News. 23 January 2003. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
16. "Tupperware" ([Link] [Link].
17. "Did Tupperware Parties Change the Lives of Women?" ([Link]
ine-13331830). BBC News. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
18. "Mike Roberts" ([Link] LinkedIn. United
Kingdom. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
19. ‫ מפיצות ללא עבודה‬2,000-‫ ו‬- ‫ "טאפרוור עוזבת את ישראל‬.)2018-05-17( ‫ טלי‬,‫סובר‬-‫( "חרותי‬https://
[Link]/career/1.6096635). TheMarker. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
20. "Home" ([Link] [Link].
21. "No more 'plastic path to empowerment': Tupperware party in NL is over" ([Link]
[Link]/news/2021/03/no-more-plastic-path-to-empowerment-tupperware-party-in-nl-is-ove
r/). March 2021.
22. "The famous Kiwi party's over: Tupperware closes lid on NZ operation" ([Link]
[Link]/business/after-half-a-century-tupperware-closes-lid-on-nz-operation/AR2QI2JBLJU
QPUJUDKZAPMR34I/). NZ Herald. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
23. Hilsenrath, Jon E. (May 26, 1996). "Is Tupperware Dated? Not in the Global Market" (https://
[Link]/1996/05/26/business/investing-it-is-tupperware-dated-not-in-the-global-m
[Link]?pagewanted=all). The New York Times. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
24. "Over 1,000 Companies Have Curtailed Operations in Russia—But Some Remain | Yale
School of Management" ([Link]
ed-operations-russia-some-remain).
25. "Tupperware Home Parties" ([Link]
ware-parties). PBS. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
26. Richards, Laura. "How MLMs — multilevel marketing schemes — are hurting female
friendships" ([Link]
[Link]). Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
27. "Tupperware Income Disclosure Summary" ([Link]
2018/03/2018_Income_disclosure_CA.pdf) (PDF). Tupperware. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
28. "Tupperware to End Partnership with Target Stores" ([Link]
usiness/[Link]). The New
York Times. June 19, 2003. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
29. Kilgore, Tomi. "Tupperware matches profit views, sales fall slightly less than expected" (http
s://[Link]/story/tupperware-matches-profit-views-sales-fall-slightly-less-than
-expected-2018-04-25). MarketWatch. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
30. Tempest, Rone; Farley, Maggie (April 24, 1998). "China Slams Door on Direct-Sales Firms"
([Link] Los Angeles Times. Retrieved
May 19, 2009.
31. "Tupperware adapts to serve diverse markets" ([Link]
rinter_en.html?id=1131755394). Plastics News. November 17, 2005. Retrieved May 19,
2009.
32. Vincent, S. (2008). "Preserving Domesticity: Reading Tupperware in Women's Changing
Domestic, Social and Economic Roles". Canadian Review of Sociology. 40 (2): 171–196.
doi:10.1111/j.1755-618X.2003.tb00242.x ([Link]
242.x).

Further reading
Charles Duhigg, "Why Short Sellers Want to Crash the Tupperware Party," ([Link]
[Link]/2006/11/13/business/[Link]) New York Times, Nov. 17, 2006.
Elayne Rapping, "Tupperware and Women", Radical America, vol. 14, no. 6 (Nov.–Dec.
1980), pp. 39–49.

External links
Official website ([Link]
"Tupperware!" ([Link] program from PBS' American
Experience, 2005.
George J. Yarbrough, The Wonderful World of Tupperware ([Link]
WonderfulWorldOfTupperwareThe00005007). Orlando, FL: United Film Productions, n.d. [c.
1964]. Public Relations film.

Retrieved from "[Link]

This page was last edited on 24 December 2022, at 02:34 (UTC).

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