Just spitballing, but I wonder if switching to traditional retail actually hurt them. I checked them out at target and did not think they were much better than the other stuff on the shelf. Years of mystique built up by the ladies in my extended family evaporated by a 45 second interaction.
Personally I prefer glass anyways, since I can avoid all the problems plastic may have and the spaghetti wont stain it.
We tried switching from plastic to glass a few years ago and while I liked the idea, the execution was terrible. The biggest issue was simply storage efficiency. They don't nest nearly as well as the plastic containers, so our drawer was always a disaster and overflowing. The lids of the ones we got all cracked fairly quickly, so I bought some silicone replacements which are great but super expensive. Also, our family isn't careful enough for glass containers, we had a lot of breakage.
IMHO you can't beat those cheap plastic clear containers with blue lids: They nest really well, you can see into them, they last a long time... They're sold under a number of brands: ZipLock, Glad...
We switched to glass and never looked back. We had the space to store them without issues.
Previously we had started hand-washing the plastic Tupperware/Ziplock containers because of warping in the dishwasher. They also stained and discoloured and no matter how much cleaning hand or machine wouldn't go back to looking clean.
We still hand-wash the plastic lids but the glass goes into the dishwasher. Now we have no more warped lids or containers. The containers are microwave safe. We also don't have breakage issues we haven't broken one in 5+ years.
To each their own I guess. My glass/steel dishes are vastly outlasting any plastic ones I've ever owned and are more enjoyable to use.
Glass containers are conceptually great. Many of the actual designs are quite bad. Little glass chips in the drawer are not at all rare.
Maybe someone should try to design a dishwasher safe container that is silicone on the outside and glass on the inside. Silicon compounds can adhere covalently to glass, so this should be possible.
Another glass convert here. Being able to go straight from fridge to oven/microwave to dishwasher without worrying about warping or microplastics leeching is the big sell. Easier to clean by hand, no sticking or staining. Plus they look nice enough even serve food in.
I have switched to (cup-style) deli containers for 90% of food storage now. They are cheap, stack great, hold up well if you drop them, and easy to wash and store.
Post-covid, take out containers have replaced most my non-glass food storage options. You order a ~$9~ $14 pad thai and they are just giving you tupperware now.
Yes - They should pivoted into other more environmentally friendly (and less potentially toxic) materials. They could have gotten ahead of this with some foresight.
Always at least have some budget for R&D, no matter how successful you are.
I’ve still got Tupperware containers from when my ex-wife sold the stuff, and I’ve been married to my current wife for 30 years. It’s good stuff, or at least used to be.
But the reason I’m using 30 year old Tupperware is because I’m not going to go to Tupperware parties. I’ve often wondered if their sales and marketing hindered them, or if it is what made it possible for them to stay in business at all.
Glasslock brand makes really good stacking glass containers that are oven safe. I find it’s much easier to clean oil out of them compared to plastic containers, it takes like 2 tours of duty storing mapo tofu to stain plastic pale orange forever, but the glass never stains. We have like 8x identical ones so they store super easy, and we keep the lids vertically in a plate holder. A++ would recommend to anyone who is bothered by a jumble of plastic containers and mismatched lids. 3.5 cups is good for most leftovers jobs (sometimes a little big, rarely 2x is too small) and is just right for a 2-person mini casserole job like making Mac n cheese.
From the pictures, they even have a dedicated nesting ridge, so they don't get stuck together? Damn. Someone's paying at least a modicum of attention, which is a heck of a lot better than [practically everyone else].
Given the growing health concerns we've been reading [0] relating to food contact chemicals we've thrown away all plastic food containers in our house and replaced them with either glass or stainless steel. I get the feeling we're not the only ones who have been doing that over the past several years.
I've had a great experience using Rubbermaid Brilliance, and every other Rubbermaid product I've purchased has been of exceptional quality for the price paid.
Some of my less thrifty friends have raved about the quality of Caraway containers.
Having seen and held both, Caraway is nice due to the lack of 'moving parts' and will likely last longer than my Rubbermaid, but at 4x the cost I couldn't justify the purchase.
Important to note, because I made this mistake and upset my wife in the process: THE LIDS ARE NOT MICROWAVE SAFE! This holds true across three different brands of glass storage containers I've seen.
It's not storage, but I've been very happy with my Vinglacé as an insulated coffee container: https://vinglace.com/
It's what I pretty much always wanted but could never find: glass-lined, insulated, and drop-resistant (not by a lot, but much better than e.g. a Bodum double-walled glass mug).
The lids are unfortunately just "acceptable", but I'm more than happy with the product as a whole and that doesn't change it.
I gave up on that requirement and now use Wick 742s and 743s without the gasket or clips. Super simple, all glass lid. I use them 95% of the time. If I didn't work from home these would probably not work, but I love using them.
This level of debt is easy to get: $500 million financing a manufacturing facility plus floating $1 billion of accounts payable for materials. Nominally, if you have $1 billion of parables, you probably have at least $2 billion of receivables, though.
Readit News
Personally I prefer glass anyways, since I can avoid all the problems plastic may have and the spaghetti wont stain it.
IMHO you can't beat those cheap plastic clear containers with blue lids: They nest really well, you can see into them, they last a long time... They're sold under a number of brands: ZipLock, Glad...
Previously we had started hand-washing the plastic Tupperware/Ziplock containers because of warping in the dishwasher. They also stained and discoloured and no matter how much cleaning hand or machine wouldn't go back to looking clean.
We still hand-wash the plastic lids but the glass goes into the dishwasher. Now we have no more warped lids or containers. The containers are microwave safe. We also don't have breakage issues we haven't broken one in 5+ years.
To each their own I guess. My glass/steel dishes are vastly outlasting any plastic ones I've ever owned and are more enjoyable to use.
Glass containers are conceptually great. Many of the actual designs are quite bad. Little glass chips in the drawer are not at all rare.
Maybe someone should try to design a dishwasher safe container that is silicone on the outside and glass on the inside. Silicon compounds can adhere covalently to glass, so this should be possible.
Always at least have some budget for R&D, no matter how successful you are.
But the reason I’m using 30 year old Tupperware is because I’m not going to go to Tupperware parties. I’ve often wondered if their sales and marketing hindered them, or if it is what made it possible for them to stay in business at all.
[1]: https://placamp.com/en/topic/topic_1821/
container: https://glasslockusa.com/product/ocrt-090-glasslock-oven-saf...
lid organizer: https://theyamazakihome.com/products/tower-dish-storage-rack...
I will absolutely try these out, thank you!
[0] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-024-00718-2
Cambro but glass would be my endgame.
Some of my less thrifty friends have raved about the quality of Caraway containers.
Having seen and held both, Caraway is nice due to the lack of 'moving parts' and will likely last longer than my Rubbermaid, but at 4x the cost I couldn't justify the purchase.
Important to note, because I made this mistake and upset my wife in the process: THE LIDS ARE NOT MICROWAVE SAFE! This holds true across three different brands of glass storage containers I've seen.
It's what I pretty much always wanted but could never find: glass-lined, insulated, and drop-resistant (not by a lot, but much better than e.g. a Bodum double-walled glass mug).
The lids are unfortunately just "acceptable", but I'm more than happy with the product as a whole and that doesn't change it.
I gave up on that requirement and now use Wick 742s and 743s without the gasket or clips. Super simple, all glass lid. I use them 95% of the time. If I didn't work from home these would probably not work, but I love using them.
[0] https://www.rifftrax.com/wonderful-world-of-tupperware
How in the world do you accumulate $1B to $10B in debt when you make plastic containers?