A cultural platform, open to all, a nacional and international reference in the context of the canning industry. A multi vitamin cultural infusion for total brain nutrition. Do not plan you visit, just keep visiting! You don`t even need a ticket...
CONSERVAS DE PORTUGAL
Digital Museum and Research Platform of the Portuguese Canning Industry
Conservas de Portugal is an independent digital museum and research platform dedicated to the history of the Portuguese canning industry.
The project brings together a large and growing body of material, including images, printed documents, books, technical publications, and archival records of historical, scientific, and cultural relevance. All content is made available online and can be accessed continuously.
At its core, the platform is structured around interconnected datasets — including brands, companies, and packaging — allowing users to explore relationships between industrial actors, production, design, and commercial identity over time.
In addition to these structured databases, Conservas de Portugal includes a wide range of documentary sources that support research into industrial organisation, fishing activity, export markets, and technological development.
Unlike many virtual museums, the project is not tied to a single institutional collection. It is an independent initiative that brings together material from multiple sources, including public institutions, private collections, and its own ongoing research and documentation work.
This combination of structured data and primary sources makes Conservas de Portugal a tool for comparative analysis and research into the Portuguese canning industry.
The project is based in Setúbal, one of the key historical centres of the industry.
We thank all collaborators and contributors who have made this work possible.Access, explore, and use the material according to your own research interests.
Key Research Areas
Portuguese canning industry (19th–20th century)
Industrial organisation and corporatism
Sardine fisheries and processing
Packaging and visual culture
Trade and export networks
The platform is organised around three core datasets:
– Brands
– Companies
– Packaging
These are interconnected and linked to archival material and historical documentation.
Research and collaboration
Conservas de Portugal is open to collaboration with researchers, students, and academic institutions.
We are available to contribute to research projects, lectures, seminars, and academic events related to the history of the canning industry, food systems, and industrial heritage.
For enquiries, please contact: investigacao@conservasdeportugal.com
What`s on: online, it’s your trackpad that runs the museum
NEW...
Práticas industriais e vida quotidiana: Fábricas de conservas e estanhagem de Nantes Século XIX – Século XX
Pratiques Industrielles et Vie Quotidienne : Conserveries et Ferblanteries Nantaises XIXème siècle – XXème siècle.
Trabalho sobre a indústria conserveira em Nantes e a sua deslocalização de produção para Portugal, bem como a contratação de “remplissage” no nosso país.
Capítulo III – Instalação em Portugal
Roger CORNU Phanette de BONAULT- CORNU
LERSCO
Université de Nantes – CNRS
Groupement d`Intérêt Scientifique
Financé par la Mission du Patrimoine Ethnologique
1989
Francisco Maia Pereira Bruno Henriques – 2022
Dirigido a Joze Antonio Affonso Barboza
Escrito por José Abeijon Mora, industrial de Matosinhos, da fábrica Pinhais. Abeijon foi um dos impulsionadores da revista Conservas.
Participam nos textos Maria Ortiz, Oliván e Imanol Beleak
MERLANT, Yves, « Les Conserveurs nantais au Portugal en 1886 », Bulletin de la Société archéologique et Historique de Nantes, année 1981, volume 117, p. 175-186.
A Assembleia da República através da Resolução n.º 88/2022, publicada a 26 de dezembro, consagra o dia 15 de novembro como o Dia Nacional das Conservas de Peixe.
A escolha do dia 15 de novembro para assinalar a importância das conservas de peixe deve-se à atribuição, entregue ao industrial de Setúbal, Feliciano António da Rocha, aquando do encerramento da Exposição Universal de Paris de 1855, a primeira distinção a uma conserva portuguesa de peixe.
A cerimónia de entrega de recompensas da Exposição Internacional de Paris de 1855, teve lugar na quinta-feira, 15 de novembro desse ano, na presença de 40.000 espectadores, na nave principal do Palais de l’Industrie.
Explore a coleção online
Explore the online collection
“Setúbal, comunque, non era nuova a questo genere di tentativi, anche se poi essi non avevano avuto alcun seguito: così, nel 1855, all’Esposizione Universal di Parigi erano state premiate le conserve di pesce sott’olio preparate con il processo Appert da F. A. da Rocha, e, dieci anni più tardi, un altro setubalense, certo M. J. Neto, aveva aperto un opificio specializzato nella produzione conserviera di pagelli, dentici e naselli, che venivano esportati principalmente in Brasile […] Vincenzo Floridi, 1968
