Tupperware is the original social network, its top official says.
“In fact, I’d say these social networking websites today are anything but social because nobody meets face to face,” Rick Goings, chief executive officer of Tupperware Brands Corp., said Friday in a phone interview with The Journal Gazette.
His company is famous for its food-storage containers. Every 3.7 seconds, a Tupperware party takes place somewhere in the world.
“We bring people together,” Goings said.
And make money.
Founded in 1946 by amateur inventor Earl Silas Tupper, the company, based in Orlando, Fla., expects annual sales this year to reach $2.3 billion, an increase of at least 6 percent from 2009.
Goings will address 1,200 sales consultants from northeast Indiana at a private event today at Grand Wayne Center.
Rather than being a “rah-rah” exhibition, the native of Wheaton, Ill., said he truly wants to help contractors grow their operations. There are 2.4 million saleswomen – and some salesmen – in nearly 100 countries.
Goings said he will stress Tupperware’s corporate strategy, which includes understanding the product better, fine-tuning the sales method and adapting sales parties to today’s woman.
Over the years, copycat manufacturers have forced Tupperware execs to rethink their offerings.
“So many women are working today, and if she wants to cook, she doesn’t have a lot of time,” Goings said.
“We offer high-tech microwaves, kitchen tools, stainless steel cutlery and also a micro-steamer that allows you to prepare a meal in six minutes and cook it in eight.”
He said the company keeps a steady stream of new merchandise flowing to time-crunched moms.
“About 25 percent of our sales are from brand-new products,” Goings said.
Another way Tupperware stays relevant, he said, is treating sales gatherings as “girls’ night out.”
“They get together and talk about family and relationships,” he said, “and a lot of the parties are themed.”
Even in a weak economy, many women are fed up with working for someone else and don’t want to live their lives “in a cubicle,” Goings said.
Sanjuana Macias feels that way. She has sold various goods for 10 years, but the 38-year-old Fort Wayne resident began selling Tupperware a year ago.
“How many products give you a lifetime guarantee and you can actually take them back in 10 or 20 years,” she said. “Try doing that at one of the (discount stores). It’s not going to happen.”
