Temporary shortage of some of our canned sardines

La belle-iloise adapts to fluctuations in fishing stocks and factors beyond our control.

Our tins of sardines are produced using fresh fish, caught when they are mature and in season, as close to where we are as possible. For example, during the last fishing season, from May to November 2022, our sardines were all caught off the French Atlantic coast, 83% of which were caught in Brittany, with 44% from Quiberon Bay, the home of la belle-iloise. It was a good season.  

However, French sardines were smaller than usual last year, due to a drop in nutrients in the plankton. So at la belle-iloise, rather than forcing things and going elsewhere for sardines, we have chosen to accept the vagaries of nature and adapt the production of our preserves accordingly.  

Our flaked sardines, as well as our boneless sardines, could not be produced because these recipes require a sardine large enough to be appropriately processed (skinned, boned, and sieved), without damaging the quality of the meat. 

The following products are therefore uavailable until next season: 

   - Our 5 flaked sardines 
   - Boneless sardines with olive oil

As well as being smaller, there were also fewer sardines this year. Again, rather than focusing on quantities at all costs, we decided not to produce certain recipes, in order to maintain production of our classic products and to ensure we have all the items for our flagship boxes.  

The following products are therefore temporarily unavailable: 

   - Royans sardines with ravigote sauce  

We hope that all these excellent sardine products will be back with the 2023 fishing season. In the meantime, you can still enjoy our beautiful whole sardines, our delicious tuna or mackerel flakes, and our other fish spreads.

Enjoy!