"The Christmas demand was so big that we faced a stock challenge. We had to ask the plant to reschedule its maintenance work sometime in the first quarter of 2004," said president Jose de Jesus Buenrostro.
Tupperware sales grew by 8% in the fourth quarter of 2003 alone, a significant jump from the projected 5% growth for the entire year. It is looking at a 50% growth in sales in 2004.
"Our sales target is doable. All the programs are in place," said managing director Maribel Sindico.
The company’s sales depends on 70,000 registered sellers, of which 10,000 are active sellers who place orders weekly.
"Taking a broad perspective, many direct selling companies would be happy with 1,000 active sellers. We want to increase our active sellers to 25,000 this year. Within four years, that should go up to 50,000," said Buenrostro, a 27-year veteran of Tupperware and on his second tour or a balik-expatriate to the Philippines since September 2003.
"To be more effective, a demonstration revolves around a theme, say, a bridal shower, chosen by our partner-hostess. We then sell our products through what we call experience selling, where we offer value to the guests by teaching them useful things like how to cook a 12-minute sinigang or how to set a buffet table," said Sindico.
On the average, each Tupperware party has five to six guests, currently generating sales of P500 per guest.
"Because we are premium-priced, our traditional market has been the A-B consumer. For example, we were able to sell out our P3,800 Elements-branded cookware within the span of a month," said Sindico. "Increasingly, we have been able to penetrate the broad C as well as D markets who see our products as aspirational and who buy one plate at a time until they complete a set.".
For hosting the party, the partner-hostess gets a share of the sales plus a special gift. In the case of hostess-turned-direct seller, Marivic Go, the gift was a pair of dolls for her two daughters. Cotabato-based Go and her husband were named the country’s top distributor in 2002, with a dealer network in the upper hundreds.
"Our products are easy to sell. We have no competition in the Philippines in terms of the quality of our products, which are approved by the American Food and Drug Administration, and which carry a lifetime warranty," said Buenrostro.
Other selling points are new technologies that have led to the production of two-color and two-material kitchenware as well as an ever-increasing range of products from plastic kitchenware Tupperware is generically known for to cookware, from water dispensers to beauty products.
In the case of Go, that has meant holding Tupperware parties even with gunshots as a background and hosting the traditional Christmas party for her managers in the best hotel in town where she hands out gift that are said to be even better during hard economic times than during good times.
"We try to increase the excitement factor for our direct sellers by offering specials," said Buenrostro. For example, the discount on certain products or gift for both the buyers and the partner-hostess in the first two weeks of January 2004 has been tagged the buena mano or first sale of the year special.
"Our mission is to support and help more direct sellers. Each active seller is a family that we are supporting. That’s a high multiplier effect on the economy of the community where our active seller operates," said Buenrostro.
In helping its sales force, Tupperware Phils. also aims to eventually regain its position as one of the five biggest sales generators within the Tupperware worldwide organization.