Tupperware parties, as we’ve known them since the 1950s, are on the way out. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift in sales to the virtual sphere. And this metamorphosis even seems to have had beneficial effects for some representatives in Quebec, who have seen their sales explode despite the company’s financial difficulties in 2022. Foray into this universe where plastic dishes are king.
When opening his Facebook live, Mélanie Fontaine explains, shovel in hand, how she collects the ashes of her home that will be used to make her laundry soap. After giving some advice on this operation, she lights her fire. It is on this wood-burning fireplace that she will make a recipe for filled breads in front of her virtual audience, embellishing her talk with anecdotes and advice. Of course, all the accessories used are of the Tupperware brand, from the cauldron to the utensils, through a panoply of bowls and dishes. Welcome to the world of Tupperware, as 2023 dawns.
Elementary school teacher, mother of four children, Mélanie Fontaine owns a farm with her husband. In 2020, she subscribes to Tupperware to be able to buy FridgeSmarts at a discount, these containers that allow fruits and vegetables to be kept longer. She starts selling Tupperware products herself only to quickly realize that she makes more money selling plastic dishes than teaching. The second year, she decides to take a sabbatical year. Working from home, her income climbs to $150,000. She is giving up on her teaching career. She is now known as “Tupperfarmer” to her thousands of subscribers. “I never thought I wouldn’t be a teacher in life. I thought I would do this until I retired, ”she says.
In addition to the attractive income attributable in particular to subscriptions and the team of salespeople she has recruited, she is entitled to a car provided and trips paid for by Tupperware.
Live from his kitchen
For her part, Martine Filiatrault, who embarked on the Tupperware adventure in 2006, hosted Tupperware evenings in the living room of a hostess. The pandemic and the ban on gatherings, however, have forced Tupperware representatives to turn to the virtual. At first, sales sessions were organized on Zoom, but this formula proved to be a failure. The Facebook Live platform worked much better, says Martine Filiatrault.
In fact, the virtual sphere has proven to be far more lucrative than evenings in the client’s living room. “Instead of talking to 10 people in a living room like before, there, we can have 50, 100, 150 people from all over Canada who join us. So that really opened the doors,” says Ms.me Filiatrault. “We could do five hours of work to go to people’s homes and do home demonstrations, to get $500 to $600 in sales. Now we make a live, it takes us two hours. We are at home. We don’t have to go out. We have all our stock and we can get $2000 of sales in the same live. »
I never thought I wouldn’t be a teacher in life
“Clearly, our business has exploded,” she says, admitting at the same time that she does not intend to return to the old formula of Tupperware evenings at customers’ homes.
Tupperware female consultants and managers—there are a few men too—have not all had the same success. Last August, The Journal of Montreal also reported a wave of resignations among saleswomen, due to the fall in their income, but also their discomfort with the transition to virtual and the loss of direct contact with customers. “Out of 10 people, 9 will stop before the first year. There is turnover,” acknowledges Sylvain Lalonde, Tupperware director. “Not everyone has the perseverance and accepts being told no. Just skip the step of announcing yourself as a Mr. or Mrs. Tupperware, there are many who have difficulty with that, who hide and do not assume. If you don’t take responsibility for yourself, it’s difficult to be convincing and to succeed. »
76 years of plastic containers
Founded in 1946 by Earl Tupper, the Tupperware company had a difficult start. Chemist Earl Tupper had created plastic containers which, in addition to being light and unbreakable, had airtight lids. Sold in stores, the products did not find takers. It was Brownie Wise, a businesswoman, who propelled the company forward by developing a door-to-door sales method and relying on the recruitment of independent saleswomen who received a percentage of the sales made. Her method will contribute to the emancipation of women at a time when many of them were confined to their homes.
Tupperware is not doing as well, 76 years later, as it was in the 1960s. Last November, Tupperware Brands stock lost more than 40% of its value. The company posted a 20% drop in sales compared to the previous year, with debts exceeding 700 million. Does the specter of bankruptcy threaten the company?
Sylvain Lalonde does not know what awaits the company. “I have no power over how they run the business, their spending and past decisions. But he’s not overly worried. In Quebec, he says, Tupperware has the wind in its sails. He maintains that the organization he is part of, Les Diamants – a company run by Maria Meriano which occupies a significant share of the Tupperware market in Quebec – has tripled its sales since the start of the pandemic, from 16 to 50 million between 2019 and 2021.
Clearly our business has exploded
According to him, it is the representatives’ ability to adapt to the constraints linked to the pandemic that has enabled them to do well, which would not be the case elsewhere in North America. And confinement has given Quebecers a taste for cooking.
Strong competition
Director of the HEC Montreal Sales Institute, Jean-Luc Geha believes that successful Tupperware representatives are in the minority. “It is certain that those who have had success, it is because they have rebuilt themselves to operate in a different way by using new technologies at their disposal”, he says. “Social media is a world apart. I’m not surprised it’s not obvious to all Tupperware reps. »
Based on a principle of pyramid selling with the sale of products and the recruitment of sellers, Tupperware does not, however, follow a Ponzi scheme, an illegal practice, explains the expert.
According to him, the financial difficulties of Tupperware Brands are not related to the methods of sale, but rather to the transformations of society – “People are short of time”, he emphasizes – and to the products themselves whose equivalents are many on the shelves today. In its early days, he recalls, the company offered products that were far superior in quality to its competitors, but this gap has narrowed over the decades. While expensive, Tupperware products are durable and even guaranteed for life, but in the era of disposable shopping, their appeal has changed, he says.