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Comur

Comur is a Murtosa, Portugal cannery founded in 1942, known for its collectible birth-year-dated sardine tins sold under 'The Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardine.'

At a glance

Notable facts

• At founding in 1942, Comur was blocked from producing sardines by an Estado Novo-era canners' guild and could only make sardines after the 1974 revolution.
• Sells vintage/birth-year-dated tins under the retail concept 'The Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardine,' with editions tied to specific years (e.g. 1955, 1965, 1980, 1996).
• Also produces smoked fish (including smoked trout fillets in oil) and mackerel fillets in olive oil and vegetable oil, alongside its sardine lines.
• Its retail concept has had a physical presence as far afield as Times Square, New York.

Origin

Comur — Fábrica de Conservas da Murtosa — was founded in 1942 in Murtosa, on Portugal's Ria de Aveiro lagoon, during the Second World War. In an odd twist of Estado Novo-era industrial policy, the fledgling cannery was initially barred by a canners' guild from producing sardines at all, and only gained the right to can them after the 1974 Carnation Revolution ended the guild's grip on the industry.

The company joined the Portuguese holding group O Valor do Tempo in 2015. Today it markets a wide range under the "Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardine" concept, including collectible tins dated to specific birth years, alongside smoked fish and mackerel lines produced at the same Murtosa facility.

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