Sardines La Belle Iloise

The fish are unloaded, inspected and weighed. Only then can we determine exactly how much time will be required for brining and cooking. The sardines are then completely submerged in brine as they are.

The sardine workers process each sardine individually, head it and carefully gut it. They are then arranged on a rack and gently sprayed with water. By the way, 100% of the fish waste is recycled. Some goes to sport and professional fishermen, who use it as bait. The rest is collected by a specialist company.

The sardines are dried in a tunnel with a ventilation system for several minutes.

The sardines are fried in pure sunflower oil, which is regularly replaced to guarantee the consistent quality of the product. The used frying oil is collected by a professional recycler and then used to heat greenhouses.

Still lying on their rack, the sardines are now drained. Draining is a very important step in the entire quality process.

Depending on the recipe, the empty sardine tins are now filled with the appropriate spices and seasonings.

The sardines are now removed from the rack one by one and carefully selected. Only the best make it into the tins. The heads and tail fins are then cut off before the fish are placed in the tins in opposite directions. This step requires great care from the sardine workers, as they must be able to tell at a glance which sardines will make a nice tin together. The most experienced of them also remove the main backbone at the same time, resulting in completely boneless sardines.

Depending on the recipe, the tins are now filled with oil: fruity or semi-fruity extra virgin olive oil or pure peanut oil.

The tins are now hermetically sealed. The lid is crimped by a machine, which seals between 300 and 500 tins per hour in this way.

The sealed tins are passed through a tunnel where they are first pre-rinsed and then thoroughly cleaned. They are then marked with the various dates (best before date, etc.) to ensure their traceability.

For each such cycle (from delivery to sealing the tins), the duration and temperature parameters are documented and systematically verified. Every sterilization process is checked in the laboratory by our quality assurance service.

The tins are inspected to ensure that they meet our standards, are dated, properly sealed and undamaged.