Tupperware reaches agreement to sell to lending group following bankruptcy

A group of lenders is poised to purchase Tupperware Brands, which would allow the Kissimmee-based company to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and halt a planned sale of assets.

Tupperware filed for bankruptcy last month, amid growing struggles to revitalize its brand. At the time, it reported more than $1.2 billion in total debts and $679.5 million in total assets, according to the bankruptcy petition.

Tupperware and its plastic food storage containers experienced explosive growth in post-war America. That success was largely due to the introduction of Tupperware parties — social gatherings where individual consultants, most of them women, sold the products out of their homes. The practice became so popular that in 1951 Tupperware removed its products from many stores.

“In recent years, however, the historical strengths of a widespread direct selling model began to turn into weaknesses,” wrote Brian Fox, the company’s chief restructuring officer, in its bankruptcy filing.

The company struggled to adopt a diverse sales strategy and was slow to pivot to online retail, he said, which contributed to its financial troubles.

The company only started selling its products in Target stores in 2022, the same year it created an online Amazon store. It started selling at Macy’s earlier this year.

Under the pending sale, which a U.S. bankruptcy judge approved, Tupperware will receive $23.5 million in cash and $63.5 million in debt relief. In exchange, the lending group poised to purchase it will receive Tupperware’s intellectual property to “create and market Tupperware’s brand” in the future.

The group set to buy Tupperware includes Alden Global Capital — the owner of the Southern California News Group’s parent company, Tribune Publishing — and Stonehill Capital Management Partners.

According to Tupperware, the company plans to rebrand itself as The New Tupperware Company and shift to a “start-up mentality” while continuing to focus on core markets such as the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, Korea, India and Malaysia.

At the time of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Tupperware employed more than 5,450 people in 41 countries and partnered with over 465,000 consultants globally to sell products on a freelance basis in nearly 70 countries.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.