Tupperware has experienced a surge in sales during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Wednesday, October 28 the company reported that its profits had quadrupled during the most recent financial quarter.
The explosive growth that Tupperware experienced during the mid-20th century was thanks to social gatherings, according to an Associated Press report, while social distancing is what is fuelling sales in the current age.
“Restaurant pain has turned into Tupperware’s gain with millions of people in a pandemic opening cookbooks again and looking for solutions to leftovers. They’ve found it again in Tupperware, suddenly an “it brand” five decades after what seemed to be its glory days,” says Matt Ott of AP.
Tupperware, which was introduced to southern Africa in 1964, was invented by intrepid inventor Earl Tupper in the early 1940s. By experimenting with a purified by-product of the oil refining process he invented durable, flexible, odourless, non-toxic and lightweight plastic that he used to create storage containers.
In the company’s prime, it allowed women a chance to run their own business with the Tupperware Party.
The first one was held by a single mother named Brownie Wise in the early 1950s. Tupperware parties were an immense success and the company made the decision to withdraw all its products from retail shops.
The Tupperware Party became the company’s only form of distribution.
The company recorded negative sales growth in five of the last six years and it looked as if that trend would continue this year. According to AP, the company appeared to be on life support — then the pandemic happened.
The company’s profit’s quadrupled to $34.4-million (R561-million) this quarter and the explosion of sales caught almost everyone off guard.
The share price of Tupperware Brands Corp. increased by 35 percent, which is a new high for the year. The shares that could be bought for about $1 in March were worth $28,80 when the markets closed on Wednesday.
Tupperware is markedly different from most of the companies that have thrived in the pandemic — unlike Netflix or Amazon, it does not rely on a high-tech platform.
In fact, the South African Tupperware website claims that “you find Tupperware for sale online.”
However, company CEO Miguel Fernandez said that the company has shifted more heavily to digital sales in order to accommodate people who are shut in because of the pandemic. He also told the AP that he noticed an “increased consumer demand.”
Picture: Instagram/tupperwaresouthernafrica