Pyrex and Instant Pot maker files for bankruptcy protection in US

The maker of Pyrex glassware and Instant Pot multicookers has filed for bankruptcy protection, with as much as $1bn (£790m) in liabilities.

Instant Brands blames high interest rates and weak demand for its problems.

It comes after another iconic kitchenware brand, Tupperware, warned in April that it could go bust unless it could quickly raise new financing.

Instant Brands says it saw strong sales during the pandemic as people who were stuck at home.

However, its president and chief executive, Ben Gadbois, said that "tightening of credit terms and higher interest rates impacted our liquidity levels and made our capital structure unsustainable".

As part of the bankruptcy process, the firm has appointed Adam Hollerbach as its chief restructuring officer who said in a court filing that sales fell as consumers started to spend less on goods for their homes after the pandemic.

The Illinois-based company, which is controlled by private equity firm Cornell Capital, said it will continue operating during the restructuring process with help from $132.5m of new financing from its existing lenders.

Last week, credit ratings agency S&P Global downgraded Instant Brands, saying its net sales for the first three months of 2023 had fallen by almost 22% compared to a year earlier.

The announcement came against the backdrop of people cutting back on non-essential spending as the cost of everything from food to electricity rises.

In January, Instant Brands agreed to pay a fine and change its marketing practices to settle US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) claims that it falsely advertised Pyrex glass measuring cups as "Made in USA" while importing some of them from China.

As well as the more than a century-old cookware brand Pyrex and Instant Pot, which was launched in 2010, Instant Brands' portfolio also includes kitchenware brands Corelle, CorningWare and Snapware.

In April, the US maker of food storage containers Tupperware warned that it could go bust unless it can quickly raise new financing.

The 77-year-old firm said there was "substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern".

Tupperware has been attempting to reposition itself to a younger audience but has failed to stop a slide in its sales.