South African police help Tupperware fight fakes

Tupperware is confident aggressive actions by South African police have stopped counterfeiters from copying its products.

Last year kitchenware manufacturer Tupperware reported fakes from China were eating away at sales in South Africa. Now, after legal actions and a clampdown by police, Tupperware believes the situation is under control. The victory should help Tupperware sales, and protect consumers.

Rick Goings, CEO of Tupperware, described the threat posed by the counterfeits. “These things were made out of such shoddy resin products that somebody would put one in a microwave and it would melt around the chicken. These were dangerous products,” Goings said.

Counterfeiters targeted more than 10 of Tupperware’s best selling products and flooded South Africa with the fakes. The sudden appearance of counterfeits undercutting the real products on price quickly hit Tupperware sales, prompting the manufacturer to fight back.

Tupperware sought support from the government and now feels it has control of the situation. Police seized counterfeit Tupperware products from warehouses in South Africa, Goings said, and then destroyed the fakes.