World News | Tupperware is Partying Like It's 1965

Silver Spring (US), Oct 28 (AP) Tupperware relied on social gatherings for explosive growth in the mid 20th century. In the 21st century, it is social distancing that is fueling sales.

Restaurant pain has turned into Tupperware's gain with millions of people in a pandemic opening cookbooks again and looking for solutions to leftovers.

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They've found, again, it in Tupperware, suddenly an “it brand" five decades after what seemed to be its glory days.

The company had appeared to be on life support, posting negative sales growth in five of the last six years, a trend that seemed to be accelerating this year.

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Then the pandemic struck. Profit during the most recent quarter quadrupled to USD 34.4 million, Tupperware reported Wednesday.

The explosion of sales caught almost everyone off guard and shares of Tupperware Brands Corp., which had been rising since April, spiked 40 per cent to a new high for the year. Shares that could be had for around USD 1 in March, closed in on USD 30 Wednesday.

Tupperware stands apart from most other companies that have thrived in the pandemic. Unlike Netflix, Amazon.com, Peloton or even DraftKings, it doesn't rely on a hi-tech platform.

However, it's certainly not alone as the pandemic bends how we spend our time more rapidly perhaps than any point in our lifetimes.

On Monday the toymaker Hasbro said that its games division, which includes board games like Monopoly, saw a 21 per cent jump in revenue.

On Wednesday, Tupperware reported quarterly adjusted earnings of USD 1.20 per share, triple what Wall Street had expected. Revenue of USD 477.2 million was about 30 per cent higher than forecasts and 14% better than last year.

CEO Miguel Fernandez said the company, based in Orlando, Florida, had shifted more heavily to digital sales to accommodate those sheltering in the pandemic. He also noted "increased consumer demand."

The company earlier this year had begun a turnaround campaign. Fernandez, who once led Avon, was named CEO in March just as COVID-19 infections began to spread in the U.S. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)