Employees at Tupperware will be laid off after the iconic US food storage container company announced that it will be closing operations in South Africa end of December 2024.
This comes after the company filed for bankruptcy in September due declining sales and increasingly dire financial circumstances.
However, following the news about bankruptcy, Party Products, a company formed by the lenders, bought certain assets of Tupperware to help the kitchenware company emerge from bankruptcy.
Party Products will focus on operating Tupperware in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, Korea, India and Malaysia.
Last year, Tupperware saw a dramatic decline in sales and IOL reported that it was on the brink of its closure.
The head of commercial at Tupperware, Justin Korte, said with the bankruptcy application and the subsequent news about the part purchase of the business, questions were raised about the continuity of the license agreement and operations of Tupperware South Africa.
"It now appears that Tupperware South Africa will not be included in the license being assumed by the purchaser and will not be receiving equipment to continue manufacturing products.
"Due to the fact that Tupperware SA has not received equipment to continue manufacturing and create December or any future product campaigns, there is only a limited quantity and range of stock available for sales to distributors," said Korte.
Under the circumstances, Korte said the prudent approach was to reduce costs, and the company has issued Voluntary Severance Packages (VSP) across the board, with service terminating on December 31, 2024. Thereafter, any remaining staff that had not accepted the VSP, will be laid-off from January 1, 2025.
"At this stage, the board of directors and management are waiting for the final instructions from the company's shareholders and are further taking legal advice as to how to manage the current situation," added Korte.
IOL News