Bela-Olhão has been canning sardines on the southern Portuguese coast since 1925. Their sardines are wild-caught in the Atlantic during the summer season, when the fish are at their fattest and most flavourful. Hand-packed and cooked just once, in the can. The result is a firm, intact fillet in genuinely good olive oil — not broken up in brine or vegetable oil. A straightforward, honest product from a century-old tradition.
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GFA Evaluation
Ingredients: sardines, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt. Three ingredients. Cooked once, in the can — retaining the natural oils and nutrients better than products that are pre-cooked and then packed in brine.
Wild-caught in the Atlantic. Portuguese sardines (Sardina pilchardus) are a well-managed species in a regulated fishery. Bela-Olhão declares species and catch area.
A century-old producer in Olhão — a Portuguese town whose economy has been built on fishing and canning for generations. Processing is local to the point of catch.
Portuguese sardines have a protected geographic identity in the EU. Bela-Olhão does not substitute cheaper sardine species or misrepresent origin. The same production location and method since 1925.