La Belle-illoise Canning Works

The Conserverie offers an industrial visit to see how fish are canned. Belle-illoise opened its first factory in 1932 in Port-Maria, a fishing port on the peninsula of Quiberon in Brittany. At that time there were 22 canneries there. The company is still run by the family of George Hilliet, who founded it. He canned sardines first, then Breton fish soup, fish spreads and lobster mousse. Later the range of fish extended to tuna and mackerel. To maintain quality in the age of supermarkets in the 1960s, Hilliet started to sell directly to customers and opened a factory shop. The business moved to its present factory in 1994. Visitors see a gallery with films and photographs about the history of fishing and canning and a reconstructed workshop of the 1930s with audio of the songs of the sardine fishermen and the smells of spices and herbs used in preservation.