In the early 19th century, French inventor Nicolas Appert discovered the principle of preserving food by heating it inside sealed glass containers. Englishman Peter Durand advanced the idea by patenting a metal casing that extended shelf life even further. Together, these breakthroughs gave birth to the modern canning industry.

Portugal was perfectly placed to embrace it. A long Atlantic coast, abundant fish and centuries of fishing knowledge made the country an ideal home for preserves. The first Portuguese fish canneries appeared in the middle of the 19th century and multiplied quickly: records show 18 in 1884, 66 in 1886 and 116 by 1912.

During the First World War, the industry flourished as factories supplied food for troops and distant markets. By 1925, Portugal had around 400 canneries. Later, as war markets disappeared and cheaper competition arrived, many factories faded. Yet that long cycle of rise, contraction and reinvention ultimately made one thing clear: Portuguese canned fish would endure by standing for quality.

At a time when women were expected to remain within the orbit of the home, the men went out to sea and into the Aveiro Lagoon, always at the mercy of weather, waters and uncertain catches. In the 1940s, with financial hardship intensified by the Second World War, the women of Murtosa were driven by necessity to create opportunity from what the Lagoon offered.

In rainy winters, the Lagoon filled with eels. The women fried them and sold them at local fairs, especially the St Matthew's Fair in Viseu, one of the region's most important gatherings. Soon they organized themselves into a small production group, adding a vinegar sauce that preserved the delicacy for longer and storing the fish in wooden barrels so it could travel farther and help feed troops.

Comur was born precisely to organize and strengthen that trade. Founded on 7 November 1942, it emerged from bravery, scarcity and communal will. What began with pickled eels would, over decades, grow into a house that now presents around 30 varieties of canned goods to the world while paying homage to its origins.

The soul of Comur still lives in the handwork. As one Murtosa veteran recalled: "The eels were prepared by hand, the sardines were prepared by hand, the sardine spines were removed by hand, the trout were filleted by hand, the octopus was prepared by hand..." The sentence reads almost like a litany — and it remains true to the spirit of the factory today.

All the fish that comes through Comur is processed by people who know the rhythm, resistance and delicacy of each species. Machines can repeat, but they cannot judge, balance or honor the fish in the same way. That knowledge, carried by wise hands, is what gives the production its soul.

Around 2 million tins leave the factory each year and travel exclusively to the brand's stores in Portugal before continuing out into the world — each one a small testament to patience, craft and continuity.

Records stretching back thousands of years show sardines being caught in Sardinia, which gave the fish its name. In winter they spawn in deeper waters, then move toward shallower waters in summer, travelling in compact shoals whose synchronized motion protects them from predators.

Sardines thrive best in temperate waters between 13°C and 20°C. The sub-species prized on the Atlantic coast is the pilchardus sardine — the Portuguese sardine — known for its firm white flesh and exceptional flavor. Portugal's coastline made it inevitable that the sardine would become one of the country's most loved foods, fresh or tinned.

Its nutritional richness has only strengthened that place. Sardines are rich in Omega-3 oils, protein, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12 and phosphorus. They are also a notable source of calcium, concentrated in the spine, which is why canned sardines are so often celebrated as both practical and deeply nourishing.

Roasted over coals at a summer table, preserved simply in olive oil, brightened with lemon, deepened with tomato or reimagined in elegant fillets, the sardine is a queen of versatility. At Comur, it remains one of Portugal's finest calling cards to the world.

At Comur, the product and the calendar became one. The collection of year tins turns history into something intimate: a birthday, an anniversary, a memory, a family milestone — each one given form in a label.

It is a simple idea with unusual emotional power: not just canned fish, but a beautifully wrapped date from the story of Portugal.

When the brand entered its contemporary era, it did not leave the past behind — it staged it. The stores became theatrical spaces where the Portuguese sardine could be encountered with wonder, color, humor and ceremony.

That distinctive approach earned Comur the Creative Retail Award in London in 2022 and placed the brand beside global names two years later. What began in Murtosa as a local necessity became one of Portugal's most memorable retail experiences.

O Valor do Tempo — "the value of time" — was founded in 1994 with a clear philosophy: to preserve and reanimate meaningful Portuguese heritage instead of letting it fade into memory.

In that sense, Comur fits the group perfectly. Its strategy is simple and generous: to promote canned goods by revealing the very best of the Portuguese sea in tins that pay tribute to history, to the women of Murtosa and to the enduring dignity of skilled work.

Alongside the Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardine, the group also cares for a family of beloved Portuguese houses: