Saupiquet is a French company founded in Nantes in 1891 which specializes in fish canning, particularly tuna.
History
In the 1870s, Arsène Saupiquet (born 1849), originally from Jussac, a village in Cantal, moved to Nantes with his family to occupy the position of director of the new factory that the tinsmith Alfred Riom (future mayor of the city) has just created. Saupiquet thus continued his career in the Riom establishments where he began at the age of 10 following the death of his father.[1][2]
In 1877, Arsène Saupiquet created his own cannery specializing in sardines, then founded in 1891 the eponymous canning company under the “Saupiquet” brand.
In 1900, the company already had nine factories in Brittany and Vendée. From 1955, Saupiquet continued a long series of family associations and took over almost all of the Nantes canneries. It thus absorbs Teyssonneau (Bordeaux), Griffon (Cholet) and Tertrais (Nantes). In 1960, the “Arsène Saupiquet” companies became the “Compagnie Saupiquet”. In 1989, the company sold its vegetable canning business as well as its Cassegrain subsidiary to its competitor Bonduelle, allowing it to refocus on its main activity: canned fish.
After having belonged to Paribas Affairs Industrielles (PAI), Saupiquet was bought at the end of 1999 by the Italian group Bolton Group,[3]