The trio of young Algarve canning artisans who, last July, launched the brand «Saboreal», has already started to export their product, and their canned goods have been sold for a week in Belgium, in a store in the city of Jamioulx .
Meanwhile, there is an order about to arrive in Poland and sales are being handled with a Portuguese in France, in the area of Bordeaux and Biarritz, as well as contacts to export these artisanal preserves and good gourmet food to the UK.
This Saturday, young entrepreneurs Vincent Jonckheere, André Teixeira and Manuel Mendes were guests at another gathering, promoted by the Friends of the Museum of Portimão, where they talked a lot about this project of theirs and about entrepreneurship, something about the history of the canning industry in Portugal. Algarve, and, above all, where, between glasses and a chat, he gave himself to taste the preserves of Saboreal.
The occasion was also used to present the two new products from small canning company operating in the Industrial Zone of Pateiro, in Parchal (Lagoa), opposite Portimão, on the other side of the Arade river: the tuna appetizers, one in the Algarve and the other with sweet potatoes and coriander. The verdict was unanimous: many good ones!
André Teixeira, 28, a fishing owner, explained that the tuna used in canning is “beautiful, caught in my boats in the North Atlantic”. These are 'pre-selected tuna on board, as those that arrive on the boat alive are killed by bleeding and not by suffocation, which makes their meat better, lighter, more suitable for the preserves we produce, high-quality".
Currently, just over three months after they started work, Saboreal already produces about 5000 canned mackerel, horse mackerel, sardine and tuna per month, having gone from a job created initially to two and soon to three (in addition to the work of the company's own partners) .
Its products are the traditional Sardine and Mackerel with olive oil (extra virgin, from Trás-os-Montes, due to the low acidity) and Carapau with Algarvian sauce or “petiscadas” (which were previously called “tapas”, but which they changed the name to give it a more Portuguese character), a new product they developed and which consists of a mixture of fish and other “condiments” – Mackerel with almonds and olives, algarvian tuna (with canned tomatoes and green peppers) and tuna with sweet potatoes and coriander.
After having started selling to four stores in Ferragudo, Portimão and Carvoeiro, they are currently selling in other parts of the Algarve, such as in Faro, but also in Lisbon, in Murtosa and soon will be in Porto, always having shops and restaurants as customers good gourmet food and traditional grocery stores. The only exception to these small supermarkets are the three supermarkets Intermarché de Lagoa, Alporchinhos and Monchique, operated by the same owner, and which Vincent guarantees that "they value and promote local products, they pay on time and well".
Saboreal preserves are sold in glass jars, for various reasons, as the three young entrepreneurs explained: «first of all, it has to do with our option for handicrafts – it was very expensive to buy a seamer to close the tin foil cans. Flanders and, if we bought it, we would have to produce large quantities to make it profitable, and it would no longer be artisanal preserves,” explained Vincent Jonckheere, 34, a university professor of economics in Belgium.
Afterwards, “it's a way of differentiating ourselves, because in Portugal canned food, especially fish, in glass jars”. Furthermore, the glass «is cheaper than the tin and is produced in Portugal», being also the «prettier» presentation.
In addition to the fact that glass is "a more inert material and does not interfere with the taste of the food inside," added Manuel Mendes, 30, a pharmacist by training.
And José Gameiro, scientific director of the Portimão Museum and one of the founders of the Friends of the Museum, added yet another reason: “in essence, they went back to the beginning of canned fish, when, in France, to feed Napoleon's troops, it was packed. preserves in Champagne glass'.
And how do they choose the products and flavors they put on the market? Have market studies been carried out? some Tertullians wanted to know. No, there were no market studies. Vincent explained: "We put our products on the market without fear, because we are sure they are good and we like them."
«To get to these two tuna snacks, we made fifteen different mixtures and then called our friends to taste and to help us choose», added Manuel Mendes. “But this is a form of market research,” exclaimed a female group member. "As well as this test we are in today," added another.
One aspect that the three canning artisans made a point of explaining is that what they produce is always “dependent on what the sea gives us”, at each time of the year. Hence, as there is no longer any sardine on the market, due to the depletion of stock for this year, they have turned more to mackerel, horse mackerel and tuna.
But “because the mackerel that is now available is very large, it is not possible to make the fillets, that is why we only produce the appetizers, in which the fish is shredded, and the bigger the better”, said Manuel Mendes.
There is already a new project in progress – «we are working on formalizing a partnership with the University of Algarve, in the areas of Marine Biology and Food Engineering», revealed Vincent Jonckheere.
One of the objectives is to carry out a study on the different species of fish, the times at which they are fished, their costs and sizes, «in order to create a production plan throughout the year, to know, for example, when not to can use sardines, what other fish can we use in these holes», added Manuel Mendes.
From the head of this trio of entrepreneurs, ideas are always coming out, namely for more and different products, some to be developed even at the request of customers. O Sul Informação he already knows some of these secrets in development, but he's pledged not to reveal what they're about yet…only to literally make readers' mouths water.
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