The Mexican who brought Tupperware afloat in the midst of a pandemic

Miguel Fernández Calero took over the global leadership of Tupperware Brands "just when the world was coming to a standstill." It was April 6, 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic was beginning to turn the world upside down. The Mexican took over the company with a financial debt and with a huge challenge ahead: keeping the business afloat in the midst of a global crisis. The solution, in the framework of the Forbes 2021 Forum The New Economic Scenario, was to fully enter the use of digital tools, which the health contingency enhanced. Innovation with Mexican leadership.

“I was living in London at the time and the company doesn't even have operations in the UK. My team was scattered all over the world, I didn't know any of them physically and as you can imagine for the first four months I couldn't leave my house, for me it was like a shock: from this computer and this little room I have to direct this company”, recalls with a smile Fernández Calero, the Mexican who runs the largest and most well-known global company dedicated to the sale of food containers that “last a lifetime”.

More information:Exclusive | Lenovo Global CEO: 'It's not enough to understand the future, you have to know how to execute it'

When he entered the management of Tupperware, the company was facing a “serious financial crisis, we had a debt that was about to come due and that we had to cover. In addition to this, this global health crisis is coming to us, it was like the perfect storm for one. So we began to do what all people did in their different capacities: adapt to reality. We saw in many countries that people no longer went to work, they no longer went to school, they no longer went to restaurants, and when they began to cook at home”, which meant a business opportunity for the company.

In a talk with the editorial director of Forbes Mexico, Roberto Aguilar, the world leader of Tupperware comments that this business opportunity meant a "lift in demand from many countries and markets, including Mexico." He then had to apply solutions to meet that demand and for employees to be more efficient without having person-to-person contact. It was then that, under the leadership of Fernández Calero, the leading global company in food containers ventured into previously unknown terrain: the digital economy.

From face-to-face meetings to showcase and sell Tupperware products from the pre-pandemic era, the company's employees moved to virtual conferences, which allowed them to not only sell in their immediate environment, but also expand the market. However, it was not easy, acknowledges the CEO of Tupperware during his participation in the Forbes 2021 Forum: "there was a lot of unconscious resistance, but there was a lot of ignorance of how to use these technological tools."

“Many people were forced (to use digital platforms). 'Now you learn to do this or your Tupperware business is going to die.' So we started with very basic courses on how to create an email account, how to use the platforms. This adoption of technology, coupled with new demand, changed our company. We came out on the winning side”, points out Fernández Calero, who assures that this hybrid business model, that is, maintaining the face-to-face sales format, but also giving way to the digital format, will be the formula in the new normality.

“This question is often asked of me by the group of investors and shareholders in the United States: 'Once this whole wave is over, are we going to go back to what we were before? YY I make the analogy of the horse and the car: people used to travel by horse and it was very efficient, suddenly a wave like this comes and you have to use the car, but once I was in the car I realized that it was safer, faster, could go further. The use of technology is the same. The tools made us more productive, once people know how to use it, they don't leave it, why would they go to the old technology, they already made the leap, and why would I go back?

@abombayboy The biggest difference between the strong and the weak, the strong get to chose. The weak have no option but to comply.

— How To Win At Life Mon Jul 26 12:15:30 +0000 2021

However, not all Tupperware collaborators around the world are adapted to the use of digital platforms, or do not have internet access. Given this, Fernández Calero also has a plan: “we have people who organize virtual events and sell and their business is gigantic; We have people who don't have access to digital tools or the Internet, and it's our job to create a company for everyone. We're going to continue producing the catalog and meeting the needs of that person who doesn't have the facilities. We cannot leave anyone behind, because we can offer a company for all socioeconomic sectors”.

If when the Mexican businessman took the reins of Tupperware he found a financial crisis, now the horizon is different, since they have already launched a pilot line of products for the home and they are preparing another one with luxury products for pets. Even the leading company in kitchen containers is working on development to make its traditional products objects that can interact with smartphones, so that, for example, it is possible to know how much consumption time a product has left.

What is more, under the leadership of the Mexican Tupperware, he plans to take his business to another height: they work in an agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States, better known as NASA, to develop products that allow astronauts grow fruits and vegetables in space. "We want to feed the astronauts," says Fernández Calero categorically. “We do not have the immediate answer, but we can collaborate with you (NASA) to arrive at this answer. We're already making progress, but everything can be improved, we're doing better and better”.

With the ban on plastic for only one in Mexico, it was common to see people take their Tupperware to the supply centers to deposit perishable products there. In this regard, the company's global director comments: our “products avoid using a thousand plastic bags or water bottles where they may have put their food. We formally declare war against single-use plastic. We are allergic to that, our products are made from resins that are designed to last you a lifetime”.

Mexico is part of the four most important markets for Tupperware, along with the United States, China and Brazil. They are the ones who sit down first to eat, says Fernández Calero a little at stake and seriously. For this reason, he tells Forbes Mexico, "the global strategy that we are going to implement in Mexico is to continue investing in our sales channel, by putting cutting-edge, high-quality products in the hands of representatives, bringing the best of the best . Then give them the tools, from a catalog to the tools to have a virtual store”.

“I like the concept of setting up a store, if you want to set it up in Monterrey we tell you these are the streets or corners that we recommend, we advise you not to spend more on rent. These days we are opening our third store, we are opening it in Polanco, Mexico City, by the end of the year there will be 15 in the country”, he reveals. They will also continue the alliance with Soriana so that Tupperware is the prize in the loyalty programs of the self-service store.

“The bigger strategy is that the size of the Tupperware brand is much bigger than the Tupperware business, our strategy is that they are the same size. We are going to be much more visible, online, offline, above, below, it is going to be a much more relevant brand and we have to do it because the new generations believe that we are generic, and we are not. We make containers to preserve food, we have to revitalize the brand, ”he warns.

Follow us on Google News to always stay informed