Tupperware files bankruptcy after failed turnaround effort

The kitchenware company has voiced doubts about its viability since 2020

Tupperware Brands Corp filed for bankruptcy following a years-long struggle with sales declines and growing competition.

Publicly-traded Tupperware filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing assets of between $500 million to $1 billion and liabilities between $1 billion to $10 billion.

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The kitchenware company, which for decades dominated the world of food storage, since 2020 had warned of doubt in its ability to stay in business. As of June of this year, it planned to close its only US factory and lay off almost 150 employees.

The bankruptcy filing in Delaware follows months-long negotiations between Tupperware and its lenders over how to manage more than $700 million in loans. The creditors had agreed to give it some breathing room on that debt, but the business continued to deteriorate.

Tupperware founder Earl Tupper in 1946 introduced its plastic products to the public, and subsequently patented their flexible airtight seal. The brand's goods later flooded into American homes, largely by way of independent sales parties hosted in suburban homes.