Illustrated Coastal scene inspired by Souss-Massa, near Aït Melloul (Agadir area).

Belma

Belma is a historic Agadir-area sardine cannery founded in 1947, now majority-owned by France's Chancerelle group, selling under its own Belma and Armorial names plus a licensed Connétable line.

At a glance

Notable facts

• Survived the 1960 Agadir earthquake; the cannery relocated from the Anza district into the Aït Melloul industrial zone (company history cites 1964/2008).
• Company site (belma.ma) lists three brand lines: Belma, Armorial, and Connétable — the last produced under license from the French Connétable brand, which is itself part of parent group Chancerelle.
• 2016 company-reported metrics: ~1,200 employees, ~23,000 tonnes of fish processed, ~91 million 125g-equivalent cans, ~€33 million turnover.
• Product range per company site covers sardines, mackerel, and anchovies, with an 'oil + chili/spice' variant called out for each of the three brand lines; exact SKU-level sizes are not itemized on the site.
• No dedicated press/media kit page found on belma.ma.

Behind the tin

Belma is packed at Aït Melloul cannery (Agadir) in Aït Melloul, Agadir, Morocco.

The brand is owned by Maison Chancerelle.

Made in the same cannery: Armorial.

Origin

Belma is one of Agadir's oldest surviving canneries, founded in 1947 and still operating today after relocating from the earthquake-hit Anza district into the Aït Melloul industrial zone. It sells under its own Belma and Armorial names, and — after France's Chancerelle group took a stake in 2002 and became majority owner in 2013 — also packs a licensed Connétable line, making it one of the clearer examples of a French canning house now controlling a historic Moroccan brand rather than the other way around.

The company's own site does not itemize exact can sizes for its spicy sardine variants across the three brand lines, and no press or media kit is published, but 2016 company-reported figures (1,200 employees, ~23,000 tonnes processed, ~91 million cans) point to a mid-sized operation well beyond a boutique cannery.

Products

Compiled from public reporting and the brand's own materials. Spot something we got wrong? Tell us.
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