Tupperware is about to close its operations in Australia, leaving hundreds of salespeople and warehouse workers unemployed just before Christmas.
It comes after the struggling brand filed for bankruptcy in September before being bought by a group of lenders last month.
Party Products, a company formed by the lenders, purchased global rights to the Tupperware brand, related intellectual property and its operations in major markets.
However, Australian staff have been told the new company will close Australian operations and instead focus on operating Tupperware in certain major markets, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, Korea, India and Malaysia. .
“We have been told that the new owners who have purchased Tupperware global will not continue with Tupperware in Australia,” a Tupperware Australia worker told 2GB host Ben Fordham.
“Only eight countries out of 70 are keeping open and unfortunately Australia is not one of them.”
The food storage company, founded 77 years ago and operating in Australia since 1961, pulled out of New Zealand last year and has struggled in recent years with falling demand for household products amid growth in home delivery apps and lack of participation in their iconic Tupperware parties.
While the brand’s sales briefly rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, as families prepared more home-cooked meals during lockdown, the trend sharply reversed last year as restaurant dining boomed again.
Tupperware has told staff it is pulling out of Australia after a group of lenders took over the struggling company.
The company will focus on sales in major markets including the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, Korea, India and Malaysia.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Queensland University of Technology business and retail expert Professor Gary Mortimer said the company had failed to innovate and attract younger customers.
She explained that there are fewer people at home than in the 1960s, and because women work outside the home, there is less appeal for Tupperware parties, the traditional sales method in which consultants would go to the host’s home to sell the stove to friends and neighbors. .
Over the years, the direct sales model has generally taken a hit with the rise of e-commerce and demographic changes that have led to smaller households and the convenience of individual meals, meaning people cook less in large quantities.
‘Tupperware has been a brand for more than 75 years. It grew in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s through product innovation and creating innovative solutions for cookware,” Professor Mortimer explained.
“But today there are a wide variety of competing products on the market and the innovation that can be introduced in food storage is limited.”
He said because of the durability of the product, many Australians kept their Tupperware for years.
“Part of the problem is the durability and life expectancy of the product itself,” he said.
‘It’s positioned as a high-quality product, not the type of item you would buy regularly every year or so. I’m sure there are plenty of kitchens in Australia that have a couple of Tupperware.
He said people tend to cook less for large groups and instead opt for easy delivery options, which means there is less demand for storage containers.
“Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows we also have smaller families and are more likely to live in smaller homes, which means less batch cooking,” Professor Mortimer said.
“People are no longer preparing large meals or storing them, but are opting for greater conviviality with individual portion control meals and consuming them in disposable containers.”
Tupperware has seen its market dominance threatened by competition from other popular brands, including Rubbermaid, Glad, Pyrex and Oxo.
Professor Mortimer added that the consumers the brand first attracted in the 1960s and 1970s are now in their 80s and 90s, and the brand does not resonate in the same way with others.
He explained that the brand is not advertised on television or social media, and customers will not see it in stores, meaning it does not reach younger audiences, while similar products are popular on supermarket shelves such as Coles and Woolworths, which people tend to buy. opt for instead.
‘When he started, he received support through a party plan business model and worked very well through network sales.
‘But now, moms and dads are at work, the party planning business model has diminished. The mothers are no longer at home, they are working.’