Just spitballing, but I wonder if switching to traditional retail actually hurt them. I checked them out at target and did not think they were much better than the other stuff on the shelf. Years of mystique built up by the ladies in my extended family evaporated by a 45 second interaction.<p>Personally I prefer glass anyways, since I can avoid all the problems plastic may have and the spaghetti wont stain it.
I’ve still got Tupperware containers from when my ex-wife sold the stuff, and I’ve been married to my current wife for 30 years. It’s good stuff, or at least used to be.<p>But the reason I’m using 30 year old Tupperware is because I’m not going to go to Tupperware parties. I’ve often wondered if their sales and marketing hindered them, or if it is what made it possible for them to stay in business at all.
Glasslock brand makes really good stacking glass containers that are oven safe. I find it’s much easier to clean oil out of them compared to plastic containers, it takes like 2 tours of duty storing mapo tofu to stain plastic pale orange forever, but the glass never stains. We have like 8x identical ones so they store super easy, and we keep the lids vertically in a plate holder. A++ would recommend to anyone who is bothered by a jumble of plastic containers and mismatched lids. 3.5 cups is good for most leftovers jobs (sometimes a little big, rarely 2x is too small) and is just right for a 2-person mini casserole job like making Mac n cheese.<p>container: <a href="https://glasslockusa.com/product/ocrt-090-glasslock-oven-safe-rect-3-5-cups/" rel="nofollow">https://glasslockusa.com/product/ocrt-090-glasslock-oven-saf...</a><p>lid organizer: <a href="https://theyamazakihome.com/products/tower-dish-storage-rack-large" rel="nofollow">https://theyamazakihome.com/products/tower-dish-storage-rack...</a>
Given the growing health concerns we've been reading [0] relating to food contact chemicals we've thrown away all plastic food containers in our house and replaced them with either glass or stainless steel. I get the feeling we're not the only ones who have been doing that over the past several years.<p>[0] <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-024-00718-2" rel="nofollow">https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-024-00718-2</a>
A bit of a tangent, but there's a pretty good RiffTrax about Tupperware: [0]<p>[0] <a href="https://www.rifftrax.com/wonderful-world-of-tupperware" rel="nofollow">https://www.rifftrax.com/wonderful-world-of-tupperware</a>
> Tupperware listed $500 million-$1 billion in estimated assets and $1 billion-$10 billion in estimated liabilities<p>How in the world do you accumulate $1B to $10B in debt when you make plastic containers?
I wonder if it isn’t actually a switch to glass etc, but instead less home cooking and less leftovers. Many people get delivery or eat out several times a week, much more than prior generations.<p>We are heavy user of plastic storage; glass is too bulky and the lids are terrible unless you update. We get nicer brands like Snapware when we can; it’s generally PP plastic which is pretty inert, and we never microwave the plastics, just use a glass bowl or plate. But we are heavy home cookers.
Not entirely surprising. I have a whole cabinet full of Tupperware but I've never bought a single one. They were all given to me from mom and dad when I went to college (in the 90s) out of their collection (which they still have and bought in the 70s and 80s).<p>Those things last forever.<p>But also we've switched to using mostly glass because you can safely heat them in the microwave without switching to a plate first.
[dupe]<p>Some more discussion: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41576276">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41576276</a>
Maybe baseless, but I try my best to avoid having food touch plastics, especially when hot. Tupperware is not an option, and feels like a relic of a bygone era.
I never saw the appeal of Tupperware, to be honest. Pyrex seemed like the far superior storage option for nearly all use cases.<p>Maybe it was a housewife thing.
Well, who could have imagined that selling greatly overpriced plastic boxes and using MLM resellers who just ooze "scamminess" while simultaneously not accepting all major credit cards would lead to failure?<p>On a side note, Costco carries "Snapware" glass and plastic containers, which are fantastic!