Tupperware files for bankruptcy | Fox Business

Tupperware Brands Corporation has filed for bankruptcy, just months after the iconic American food storage container maker closed its last remaining U.S. factory due to financial problems.

The company officially announced on Tuesday its voluntary decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

According to bankruptcy filings, the company had estimated assets of between $500 million and $1 billion and estimated liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion. The number of creditors was between 50,001 and 100,000.

“Whether you are a dedicated member of our Tupperware team, sell our Tupperware products, cook with them or simply love them, you are a part of our Tupperware family. We plan to continue to provide our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process,” said Laurie Ann Goldman, president and CEO of Tupperware, in a statement.

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She continued: “Over the past few years, the Company's financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment. As a result, we have evaluated numerous strategic options and concluded that this is the best path forward. This process is designed to provide us with the flexibility we need as we pursue strategic alternatives to support our transformation into a digital, technology-led company that is better positioned to serve our stakeholders.”

Tupperware, founded in 1946 by chemist Earl Tupper, is asking the court to allow it to continue operating through sales consultants and retail partners as well as online, according to a press release.

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Tupperware items, including a set of retro storage containers, left, lie on a table during a Tupperware party in Sebastian, Florida, Wednesday, May 18, 2022. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The company, based in Orlando, Florida, has faced numerous difficulties in recent years.

In 2020, the company initiated a recovery plan and has since been trying to implement goals such as improving profitability, strengthening its balance sheet and restructuring its debt.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission In April 2023, Tupperware reported that “[t]The Company has concluded that there is substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern for at least one year from the expected date of its financial report on Form 10-K.”

In June, Tupperware announced it would permanently close its Hemingway facility. South Carolinaand laid off 148 employees.

The statement said the layoffs would begin in September and the plant would be closed permanently in January 2025.

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Tupperware products will go on sale at a retail store in Chicago on April 10, 2023. (Scott Olson/Getty Images/Getty Images)

Tupperware said in a statement at the time that it had sold the Hemingway plant last year and was now moving operations to Lerma, Mexico. The majority of products sold in the United States and Canada are already manufactured at that plant.

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Tupperware appointed Goldman as CEO in October 2023.

The company's popularity exploded in the 1950s, when post-war women, striving for empowerment and independence, hosted “Tupperware parties” in their homes to sell food storage containers.

FOX Business' Ailslinn Murphy, Daniella Genovese and Reuters contributed to this report.