Dive Brief:
- Following the delayed filing of its 10-K, Tupperware Brands Corporation has appointed Laurie Ann Goldman as its new CEO, president and a director of the board effective immediately, according to a Tuesday press release. Goldman replaces President and CEO Miguel Fernandez, who worked at the company since March 2020, and was previously the global president at Avon, per LinkedIn. Fernandez will no longer serve as a director of Tupperware’s board.
- Goldman most recently served as CEO of Ovme Aesthetics and previously was CEO of Avon North America as well as CEO of Spanx. The new executive will receive an annual base salary of $1 million, a guaranteed bonus of $312,500 for the rest of 2023 and the opportunity for an annual target bonus of $1.25 million, per a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday.
- Along with appointing Goldman, Tupperware has also switched up its board by bringing on Lori Bush, Paul Keglevic and William Transier. Mark Burgess, Meg Crofton, Deborah Ellinger and James Fordyce have voluntarily stepped down, leaving the board reduced to 11 directors. Director and Executive Vice Chair Richard Goudis earlier this month agreed to resign from the company after it filed its 10-K.
Dive Insight:
Tupperware’s executive changes and 10-K filing come as the company undergoes a transformation plan to turn around the business.
"Now is the right time to bring in new leadership, and Laurie Ann is exceptionally well-suited to advance our long-term strategy and accelerate growth," Susan Cameron, chair of Tupperware's board of directors, said in a statement. "Laurie Ann brings the right mix of business and brand experience and has built consumer affinity for some of the world's most iconic brands. We are confident that her proven history of motivating global sales teams, along with her strong operational and financial capabilities, will empower our teams and accelerate our efforts to guide Tupperware to sustainable, long-term growth."
Tupperware filed its 2022 annual 10-K report on Friday, revealing that the company saw its net sales drop 19% year over year to about $1.3 billion. Its gross profit dropped from about $1.1 billion in 2021 to $834 million. Re-engineering and impairment charges increased from $14.8 million in 2021 to $29.4 million in 2022. Tupperware expects to incur between $80 million and $100 million of Turnaround Plan charges from 2023 to 2026.
Tupperware’s annual 10-K filing was delayed after missing its initial deadline by several months and hired a chief restructuring officer in May. In its new report, Tupperware restated aspects of financial statements from its fiscal years 2021 and 2020, as there “were deficiencies in the company’s internal control over financial reporting that constituted material weaknesses.”
“It was a challenging year of increased competition in fast growing gig jobs for the sales force, and some of [Tupperware’s] initiatives did not deliver the expected results. After evaluating the results of the prior initiatives, [Tupperware] is developing a plan to focus on restoring sales force recruiting, increasing productivity, and adjusting product prices informed by elasticity studies across different geographies,” the company’s filing said regarding its 2022 full year results.
Following months of operational distress, Tupperware in August announced a debt restructuring agreement with lenders, which included the reduction or reallocation of $150 million in cash interest and fees, access to a revolving borrowing capacity of about $21 million and more.
