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Les Mouettes d'Arvor

Les Mouettes d'Arvor is the brand of Conserverie Gonidec, a family cannery founded in June 1959 in Concarneau, Brittany, now the last operating sardine cannery in the town.

At a glance

Notable facts

• Founded June 1959 by Jacques Gonidec and his parents in a small workshop at Passage-Lanriec, behind Concarneau's Ville-Close.
• Relocated in 1995 to a modern, EU-standard production facility at the entrance to Concarneau; the company is described as the last remaining cannery in a town that had over 30 canneries in the 1950s.
• Won a first-prize Gault et Millau award in April 1990 for its olive-oil sardines.
• As of 2009, produced roughly 6 million cans/jars a year (about 1,000 tonnes), with around 98% of sardines sourced locally from Concarneau, Douarnenez, or Saint-Guénolé.
• Since 1996, has produced limited-edition tins with artist-painted designs.

Origin

Les Mouettes d'Arvor is the brand of Conserverie Gonidec, founded in June 1959 when Jacques Gonidec and his parents opened a small canning workshop at Passage-Lanriec, just behind Concarneau's historic Ville-Close, at a time when the town's once-dominant sardine-canning industry was already in decline.

The company outgrew its original workshop twice, moving to larger premises in 1962 and again in 1995 to a modern, EU-standard plant at the entrance to Concarneau. Jacques Gonidec's son took over as third-generation owner in 1990, the same year the brand won a Gault et Millau prize for its olive-oil sardines. Today Conserverie Gonidec is described as the last operating cannery in a town that once had more than 30, still hand-preparing sardines sourced almost entirely from Breton ports.

Since 1996 the brand has released limited-edition tins featuring commissioned artwork, a tradition that has become part of its identity alongside its everyday olive-oil, lemon, garlic and spiced recipes.

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