Designer Kusuma shares insights

In this video interview, Tupperware's David Kusuma explains how he seeks the perfect materials for housewares, with an eye toward emerging technologies.

MIAMI (Nov. 25, 12:55 p.m. ET) — David Kusuma is highly schooled in engineering and industrial design, and he never tires of learning, as indicated by his multiple university degrees. He is constantly studying, testing and searching — but his Holy Grail is materials-based.

The vice president of product development worldwide for Orlando, Fla.-based Tupperware Brands Corp. is forever seeking materials that will further his team’s aim to create quality durable and stylish housewares such as food-storage containers. It’s no small challenge for a corporation with $2.16 billion in 2008 sales that employs an army of more 2 million individuals to direct-sell its products worldwide.

During the recent Industrial Designers Society of America’s international conference in Miami, Kusuma took time to share some of his thoughts and goals in an on-camera interview with Plastics News. High on Kusuma’s wish list:

* A high-heat elastomer that is not only tactile but also food-safe and microwaveable.

* A high-heat polypropylene with greater stiffness than those currently on the market.

* A biopolymer — perhaps something nylon-based — that will be cost-effective and also deliver the type of long-term durability associated with Tupperware products.  

He is eagerly awaiting such fledgling technologies to be commercialized to open the door to new, creative consumer-product designs. To that end, he noted, “We try to focus on materials that are [Food & Drug Administration]-approved, at least here in the U.S., but if we only do that, we limit ourselves. So we also look at materials that could be FDA-approved, and then try to work with those suppliers to try to get it up to speed.”

Meantime, sustainability is attracting a huge amount of attention at Tupperware these days. The company is knee-deep in doing life-cycle assessments on the environmental impact of all the materials it uses, with the aim of rolling out that information to all its plants next year.

Kusuma also constantly travels the globe, and is well-placed to assess differences in consumer trends between societies.

“America is a convenience society. The society in America likes fast-paced consumerism, disposable products, products that have a short life — you use it once or twice, and then basically you discard it. It’s not been the strategic model of Tupperware. Tupperware products are sold with a lifetime warranty.” Even so, he said, “Our sales in the U.S. actually have been picking up lately, because people are starting to be more conscious of being more environmentally friendly, using containers that can be utilized over and over again, but it’s been kind of a slow road back.”

But then Kusuma contrasted that with Europe. “The Europeans have always had more of a mentality to have longer, durable products. And that’s why Europe is currently our largest market and probably will be for a long time.” Europeans are willing to pay more for such products.

And Asia-Pacific is Tupperware’s second-largest market. “They’re up and coming, with lots of market opportunity.”

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