Business · Companies · 4 hrs ago
La Belle-Iloise’s Quiberon shop helped keep the sardine canning business alive
La Belle-Iloise still makes canned fish in Quiberon, a town in France’s Morbihan region.
Its shop draws about 30,000 customers a year and helped the historic business survive.
The company was founded in 1932, when Quiberon had 14 canneries; its former director, Bernard Hilliet, says there are now seven in France.
Small shops disappeared, large retailers grew, and competition from abroad increased.
Hilliet says his father chose to keep the company’s focus on quality rather than lower prices, and the shop was then created.
The business now faces a daily struggle to find workers for its factory.
The programme follows employees as they discuss work, pay and the future of their jobs ahead of France’s presidential election.
La Belle-Iloise’s shop in Quiberon helped the sardine cannery survive as small grocers disappeared and competition from abroad increased.
The shop attracts about 30,000 customers a year.
The company has sold its sardines in colorful tins since 1932.
Bernard Hilliet, the founder’s son, said the company held on to the founder’s commitment to quality.
Finding enough workers to make the preserves remains a daily challenge.
- Who
- La Belle-Iloise, a sardine cannery in Quiberon, and its customers.
- What
- Its shop helped the cannery survive amid changes in retail and stronger foreign competition.
- When
- The company has sold sardines in tins since 1932. The report was published on October 22, 2026.
- Where
- Quiberon, in Morbihan, France.
- Why
- Small grocers disappeared and foreign competition increased. The shop helped the brand continue selling its products.
Government envoys
Bernard Hilliet, speaking for the company
Aspect
Government envoys
urged canneries to consolidate and lower their selling prices
Bernard Hilliet, speaking for the company
said the company would continue making products to its established quality
La Belle-Iloise began selling its sardines in colorful tins.
The founder opened the shop after government envoys urged canneries to consolidate and lower prices.
Franceinfo published a report from Quiberon about the cannery and its workers.
- Annual customers
- 30,000
- Product history
- Sardines sold in tins since 1932
- Quiberon canneries then
- 14
- French canneries then
- 160 making sardines, tuna and mackerel
- French canneries now
- Bernard Hilliet said he believed there were seven
- Current challenge
- Finding workers to make the preserves
What people are saying
What saved us were the values of the company’s founder, my father.
I will continue to make the quality I have always made.
The success of this shop is no small matter; it was even the key to the brand’s survival.