Back on the table: why tinned sardines are booming in France

Long-ignored tinned sardines have made a comeback thanks to influencers on TikTok and Instagram, who have praised them for various reasons, with France’s most famous brands benefiting.

Sales have grown by 14% over the past three years, according to the Syndicat français des conserveries de poissons, the union representing the fish canning industry, and by 7.4% since the beginning of 2026, according to market research firm NielsenIQ.

La Belle-Iloise, a Morbihan-based canning company, reported a 30% increase in sales since January 2026, while its Vendée-based counterpart, La Perle des Dieux, reported double-digit growth over the same period, both companies’ chief marketing officers, Cécile Roudaut and Salomé Ferchaud, tell The Connexion. Similarly, Connétable, another company based in Finistère, has seen a 21% increase over the past year.

“It brings sardines back to the table,” Ms Roudaut says, playfully referencing the longstanding cliché of sardines being relegated to the back of the cupboard.

The reasons behind their success are manifold, ranging from nutrition and health benefits to affordability, and they predate the rise of social media.

They are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, vitamin B12 and calcium, and deliver roughly 25g of protein per 100g. As small, short-lived fish low on the food chain, they accumulate far fewer heavy metals than tuna or salmon, making them a safer choice for regular consumption.

Priced at just a few euros per tin, they provide premium nutrition at a fraction of the cost of fresh fish or meat. This affordability has made them a staple for students, young professionals and families seeking healthy, budget-conscious meals. They also have excellent preservation qualities, lasting from three to six years and sometimes up to 10 years.

In Marseille, sardines have recently become the signature product of new street-food vendors, who sell them grilled in paper cones. Both Ms Roudaut and Ms Ferchaud could not pinpoint when social media picked up the trend but highlighted their respective companies’ products as reasons for its success. “It is unexpected but welcome. It highlights the points we have always made about sardines,” says Ms Ferchaud.

On French social media, enthusiasm for sardines was supercharged by Jimmy Mohamed and Michel Cymès, two media-friendly health professionals who have praised them on television, prompting other influencers to follow suit.

As in many other instances, the trend appears to have begun in the United States. “Call it the Fishwife phenomenon,” says Ms Ferchaud. The reference is to Fishwife, a US brand that has taken the tinned seafood market by storm since its foundation in 2020, with annual revenues rising from $750,000 in 2021 to $2.6 million in 2022 and $6 million plus from 2024.

Fishwife has built its success around savvy marketing, repositioning canned seafood as sustainable, stylish, ready-to-eat and shareable. Its packaging features bold colours, going completely against the mainstream minimalist trend, with designs by illustrator Daniel Miller.

“This fits right up our alley,” says Ms Ferchaud, emphasising La Perle des Dieux’s similar strategy over the past decade. Its last four millésimées editions were designed by French painter Delphine Cossais. “We want sardines to regain their prestige,” says Ms Roudaut, whose company, La Belle-Iloise, is renowned for its colourful Saint-Georges tin featuring a red knight with a spear.

“It’s such an inherently incredible product… [with] totally clean ingredients and it’s really, really healthy, and yet it’s been moulded into this Depression-era commodity food. I thought that should change,” Fishwife co-founder Becca Millstein told Forbes. 

In French, sardines are associated with the expression faire les fonds de tiroir (“to scrape the bottom of the barrel”) because they were historically intended for fishermen spending weeks at sea. Their long shelf life meant they were eaten last, as a final resort. “It is still deeply ingrained in people’s minds, but it is indeed changing,” says Ms Ferchaud.