The story of Conserveira do Sul is intimately linked to the life of its founder António Jacinto Ferreira. From Beja, António started work in the fish business at nine years old. In 1918, at the age of 15, he arrived in Olhão with the idea of opening a warehouse to salt fish for his Alentejo clients.
In 1954, his friends J. Florentino Topa, Luís Gonçalves, Francisco Ribeiro Modesto and J. Correia Pontes suggested that he buy the oldest factory canning fish in olive oil in Olhão, the établissement de F. Delory. António Jacinto Ferreira bought the company, together with his children, so creating a new business. Known as “the old factory”, the new purchase was a grand unit, not to be compared with the majority of factories of the time, and from the outset the major part of its business was exports to countries from Europe to Asia, (especially the Philippines) and, later, Eastern Europe.
