Description: For much of its 77 year history, Tupperware was the go-to storage container for many families putting away leftovers or meeting other food storage needs. The multi-coloured plastic devices were sold by Tupperware’s independent representatives in parties held in customers’ homes. But the in-person sales technique had fallen out of favour in more recent years, sending down Tupperware’s fortunes and its stock price, although it did have a surprising uptick in the early part of the pandemic as eating at home became a necessity. Given its current debt and liquidity issues, Tupperware has “concluded there is substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.”

Date:  April 11, 2023

Source:  cbc.ca

 Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tupperware-bankruptcy-1.6806751

Discussion points:

1) Do you or your roommates have any Tupperware in your kitchen there in your university town? What about in your family kitchen back home?

2) Why do you think investors bid the shares to close to $40 in 2021 whereas they had been only $1.40 in March 2020?

3) Page 2-8 of Wiley’s Understanding Financial Accounting introduces us to the Going Concern assumption. What does this assumption mean and why is it so important to financial reporting?