In France, an attempt to breathe life back into Tupperware
Tupperware, an iconic, beloved American household brand that bid adieu to its American customers after going bankrupt and shutting down its last US factory in 2024, is being revived — in France.
French entrepreneur, Cédric Meston, announced that he’s orchestrating the relaunch of Tupperware France in five European countries — France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Poland, along with entrepreneurs Augustin Rudigoz and Aymeric Porte.
Meston, cofounder of French company Happyvore, which makes plant-based meat substitute food products, said in a Linkedin post this week that he was taking over as the new owner and CEO of Tupperware France (a subsidiary of Tupperware Brands Corp). Pending final negotiations and approvals, he expects Tupperware products to start coming back into the market in those five countries in April.
In his post, Meston said that his target for Tupperware France is to reach €100 million ($108 million) in revenue by the end of 2025.
“Tupperware isn’t a bad brand and it was never poorly regarded in Europe, so it makes sense that someone wants to try and breathe new life into it,” Neil Saunders,
managing director and retail analyst at GlobalData, told Bagable.com.
“With a cleaner financial slate it will also be easier to make the business work. That said, there will still be issues to address such as the rise of alternative brands, the preference to buying online, and strong price competition,” he said. “As a smaller European entity, the hope will be that there can be greater focus on resolving these things in a way that’s appropriate to the local markets.”
Florida-based Tupperware, known around the world for its plastic food storage containers and its famous “Tupperware sales parties,” lost a protracted battle to stay in business as lack of product and marketing innovation, growing competition from other brands and its inability to stay relevant with younger shoppers eroded its sales.
Amid mounting debt, the company filed for bankruptcy in September and said it could go out of business.
"Over the last several years, the company's financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment,” Laurie Ann Goldman, Tupperware’s CEO, said in a statement at the time. “As a result, we explored numerous strategic options and determined this is the best path forward.”
Tupperware, which once sold products in up to 70 countries, also closed its only U.S. factory last year.In October, the company sold itself to a group of lenders.
Its new owners said their goal was to relaunch “The New Tupperware Company” with a “start-up mentality” that focused on rebuilding the brand in core markets of the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, Korea, India and Malaysia first, followed by Europe and additional markets in Asia.
Regarding the effort to resurrect the brand in Europe, retail analyst Neil Saunders said the move isn’t surprising but it would still have to address ongoing challenges for Tupperware.
Retail industry analyst and consultant Jean-Marc François told Bagable.com that he’s certain Meston will probably stay true to Tupperware’s pioneering direct-to-consumer sales business model as he looks to revive the brand in Europe.
“But I do question how much freedom he will have to develop products adapted to the needs of his clients going forward. If the original owners of Tupperware are retreating from Europe, presumably it’s because business was not going great for them,” he said.
“If he can adapt Tupperware products to the needs of local consumers in the European markets he’s targeting, then yes, this could work,” Francois said. “If he’s not able to change products to meet local preferences, I would be a little bit concerned because products made for American consumer aren’t always suited for French or German consumers.”