Tupperware, the storage container brand that has been a staple in many Australian households for decades, has filed for bankruptcy amid struggling sales.

Tupperware, founded in 1946, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US on Tuesday (US time) for its brands and subsidiaries.

It comes amid declining demand for its once-popular colourful food storage containers known for their lifetime warranty.

Tupperware enjoyed a brief surge during the Covid-19 pandemic when people cooked more at home and turned to its airtight plastic containers to store leftovers.

But since then it has struggled to stem the drop in sales and ballooning losses.

The post-pandemic jump in costs of critical raw materials such as plastic resin, as well as labour and freight further dented the company’s margins.

Tupperware was founded when chemist Earl Tupper had a spark of inspiration while creating moulds at a plastics factory shortly after the Great Depression.

If he could design an airtight seal for plastic storage containers, like those on a paint can, he could help war-weary families save money on costly food waste.

His original Wonderlier bowl helped change the way the world stores food, according to the Tupperware website.

Entrepreneurial women would sell the containers at Tupperware parties held in people’s homes.

In August, Tupperware had raised substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern for the fourth time since November 2022 and said it faced a liquidity crunch.

The company listed $US500 million to $US1 billion ($740 million-$1.5 billion) in estimated assets and $US1 billion-$US10 billion ($1.5 billion-$15 billion) in estimated liabilities, according to filings on Tuesday (US time) in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Tupperware had been planning to file for bankruptcy protection after breaching the terms of its debt and enlisting legal and financial advisers, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

The report said the bankruptcy preparations began following prolonged negotiations with lenders over the more than $US700 million ($1 billion) in debt.

-with AAP