After the difficulties it faced for years, the American manufacturer of the well-known plastic food storage containers Tupperware announced today that it has started bankruptcy proceedings.

“For several years now, the company’s financial condition has been significantly affected by a difficult macroeconomic environment,” said Lori Ann Goldman, the company’s chief executive who filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

“Therefore we looked at several strategic options and decided” that going under the bankruptcy protection law was “the best solution” as it would give us “the necessary flexibility” for the digital and technological transformation of our company, explains the CEO in the bankruptcy proceedings documents.

The company, which is based in Orlando, Florida, wants to continue working during the process and plans to continue paying its employees and suppliers, Goldman also said.

Yesterday, Tuesday, Tupperware shares were suspended from trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

In mid-August, the company had announced that it was still “facing significant liquidity problems” and that it had “doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern.”

Tupperware has been saddled with hundreds of millions of dollars in debt for several years and had already had to restructure its financial commitments for the first time in 2020.

The group has not released its financial figures since 2022, the year in which its turnover fell to $1.3 billion, 42% below five years earlier.

Tupperware, which began in 1946, had become a social phenomenon as its products entered millions of American households, and not just because of the efficiency of its dealer network.

“Tappers”, the company’s airtight plastic containers for keeping food longer, were initially released in stores, but did not have enough demand.

The company then pioneered the principle of “Tupperware meetings”, demonstrations held at the home of an agent or a group of potential buyers.

In 2017, the company founded by American inventor Earl Tupper still had over three million representatives worldwide.

Tupperware was weakened by the emergence of online commerce, meal delivery and single-use plastics, which challenged its model.

The company tried to adapt by expanding its sales on the Internet and entering into distribution agreements with chain stores, but it was unable to stop its decline.