Constância, Portugal, Sept. 26, 2024 (Lusa) - The mayor of Constância, in Portugal's Santarém district, has said that the Tupperware factory at Montalvo has stopped production and that the unit's future remains uncertain, while the country's Ministry of Economy has said that it is "monitoring" the situation, at a time when the US parent company has filed for bankruptcy.
In a statement late on Wednesday the mayor, Sérgio Oliveira, said that following his request for clarification he had been contacted "by telephone" by the vice-president of Tupperware Europe, who told him that he "doesn't know the future of the company," which is "in the negotiation phase" with possible buyers and "working to create a strategy to make the company more attractive to investors."
Oliveira added that he had been informed that "they have stopped production in Tupperware Portugal, Belgium and South Africa because they have too much stock."
The mayor of Constância, where the factory is located employing around 200 workers, said that "this information has already been passed on to the office of the minister for the economy," asking him "to monitor this process" and to "provide the company with all possible support so that it can continue to operate in Montalvo."
Contacted by Lusa, an official at the Ministry of Economy said that "the government is monitoring the development of the company's situation in the US and will continue to do so with regard to the company's situation in Portugal," and confirmed that the ministry was in contact with the mayor of Constância.
The mayor told Lusa on 18 September that he was apprehensive and worried about the announcement that US multinational Tupperware had filed for bankruptcy, and "about the future of the two hundred workers" at the factory in the municipality.
"Anguish, anxiety, uncertainty and concern - it's what we're currently experiencing, fundamentally for the people who have jobs there, who need that job to live," said Oliveira, who said that he had earlier that day asked the company for “clarification” and also sought the “intervention of the Minister of the Economy.”
Also on 18 September, Lusa itself asked the company for clarification in writing, but has received no response to date.
Questioned by Lusa, Dário Lima of the Union of Workers in the Manufacturing, Energy and Environmental Industries of the Centre-South and Autonomous Regions (SITE CSRA) said that “if the factory closes, it will be a social scourge for around 200 workers and their families.”
Alfredo Maia, a member of parliament for the Communist Party, has meanwhile written to ask the minister for labour, solidarity and social security "what assessment the government has made of the situation described" and "what measures it will take... to halt these redundancies, guaranteeing the jobs in question."
The Left Bloc (BE) in Santarém district, in a statement, warned that "the possible unemployment of these 200 workers, in addition to the social catastrophe it represents, is a heavy blow to the fragile economy of the municipality and the region" and argued that Portugal's right-of-centre government "must intervene here and now, ensuring the continuity of jobs at Tupperware" in Constância.
The Tupperware factory in Portugal, which has been operating since 1980 in Montalvo, Constância, is a fully owned subsidiary of the US multinational Tupperware Brands Corporation; the latter filing for bankruptcy could have consequences for the Portuguese unit.
Tupperware Brands Corporation, which has suffered from falling sales, will seek court approval to continue operating and facilitate a sale process to protect the brand.
Tupperware, known worldwide for its plastic food storage containers, voluntarily initiated Chapter 11 proceedings in the Delaware Bankruptcy Court, causing its shares to fall by more than 50% on the New York Stock Exchange, triggering a suspension of trading.
The company had already postponed its 2023 annual accounts in March this year and in June announced plans to close its only factory in the US and lay off almost 150 employees.
According to media reports, Tupperware will seek court approval to facilitate a sale process for the company and continue operating during bankruptcy proceedings.
A decade after it began operating in the US, Tupperware expanded into Europe; by the mid-1960s it was present in six European countries, after which it made the leap into the Latin American and Asian markets.
MYF/ARO // ARO.
Lusa