Having been cooking for nearly 7 years in her family, Ms. Bui Thi Minh Chau in Pham Van Dong (Bac Tu Liem, Hanoi) has spent tens of millions to buy household appliances from food storage boxes to pots, pans... from Tupperware. Because she is satisfied with the design and quality of this brand's products.

Especially plastic food containers, they are not only beautiful but also ensure food safety, cleanliness and airtight lids to prevent food odors from escaping. Therefore, just Tupperware plastic containers alone, there are sets that she bought for up to 2.5-3 million VND.

“The price is quite high, but I have used it for several years without seeing any damage,” she said. The refrigerator’s refrigerator and freezer compartments are filled with Tupperware plastic boxes. Ms. Chau’s kitchen cabinets also have dozens of the brand’s plastic boxes for storing raw and cooked food.

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Many Vietnamese housewives spend several million to tens of millions of dong to buy Tupperware plastic food storage containers. Photo: NVCC

When she heard that Tupperware wanted to file for bankruptcy, she quickly bought household items that her family often used to stock up and use later. The stores were also having big sales, so buying now would be cheaper.

For example, the 3-layer steamer was previously nearly 800,000 VND, now reduced to 520,000 VND; the cooler box set with breathing button has been reduced from 2.5 million VND to 1.3 million VND; the thermos cup has been reduced from 1 million VND to 630,000 VND; the cooler and freezer box set has also been reduced by more than 40% to 680,000 VND; the frying pan has also been reduced from 6.2 million VND to 3.7 million VND...

“These are the items I decided to buy yesterday and this morning. It cost nearly ten million VND because there were products I bought 2 boxes of, or like thermos cups I bought 4 at once,” she said.

Ms. Doan Thi Tram in Ha Dong (Hanoi) also bought several sets of Tupperware plastic containers to store food in the refrigerator's cool and freezer compartments.

“It’s not because we don’t have enough plastic boxes that we have to buy more. I bought it because I found the items good. Now, if the company goes bankrupt, it will be very difficult to buy them in the future,” said Ms. Tram. After a day of shopping for discounted items, in addition to the plastic boxes, she also decided to buy a 4-piece knife set for more than 5 million VND.

On the social networking forum of housewives, many people posted information about Tupperware filing for bankruptcy and expressed regret. Among them, many women showed off household items they had just bought at cheap prices. The plastic food storage containers were of most interest to housewives, so some people ordered a few sets to use gradually.

Posting a 7-piece Tupperware plastic cooler and freezer set for sale for 650,000 VND, just one day later, Ms. Van Bich Ngoc in Truong Dinh (Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi) closed 70 orders, the number of boxes sold reached nearly 100 sets.

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After decades of dominating the global food storage market, Tupperware filed for bankruptcy protection. Photo: Tupperware

“Normally, there are not that many customers buying Tupperware plastic boxes. But yesterday, the price of this box set dropped by almost half, and there was also news that the company filed for bankruptcy protection, so many women rushed to order it,” she said.

Speaking to PV.VietNamNet, Ms. Dang Diem Huong in Nam Tu Liem (Hanoi) said that yesterday the number of customers ordering Tupperware products doubled compared to normal days. The staff packed the products and delivered them to customers with tired hands but still couldn't keep up. Some orders had to be postponed until today to be delivered.

There was a customer who ordered 4 sets of 13-item food storage boxes for refrigerated and frozen food at a price of 2.3 million VND/set. One customer even ordered 30 3.1-liter food storage boxes for the refrigerator, with an order value of more than 9.4 million VND.

“There are many items on sale, but this is a discount program that the company is implementing from the end of August to the end of September,” said Ms. Huong. According to her, it may have originated from the information that the company declared bankruptcy, combined with this huge discount, so the number of customers buying increased sharply.

Tupperware, a company that specializes in manufacturing kitchenware and has dominated the global food storage market for decades, filed for bankruptcy protection on September 17 after 78 years in the market.

International media reported that in a report submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in April this year, Tupperware said the company was doubting its ability to continue operating in the near future and had to work with financial advisors to find a solution.

The company then planned to close its only U.S. factory and lay off nearly 150 employees. The bankruptcy filing came after years of persistent losses, failing to meet its creditors’ obligations, and failing to connect strongly with younger consumers.

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