It is more than a store that sells Portuguese canning. It’s more than a tavern for snacking. It is more than a store of traditional Portuguese products and objects related to the sea and sardines. Maria do Mar is a place where they sell a little of Portugal.
Maria do Mar has two stores – the original, in Lagos, and the second to open in Portimão – and results from the strong will of a woman – businesswoman Ana Costa Franco – who, in 2012, if real estate and have displaced decided to invest in an industry totally new to her.
With the momentum of her husband, Pedro Franco Costa, Ana embarked on a world that claims to have ‘discovered’: ‘we had no idea that Portugal still retains this canning industry with such beautiful packaging. ”
Given that canned fish is a ‘product of excellence and a Portuguese tradition unfortunately almost lost in the Algarve“, Ana Franco thought that” made sense to pick this tradition. ”
However, Ana Franco, responding to customer requests, especially foreigners, has started selling other products related to the image of the preserved sea, in his shop in Lagos. “The sardines for tourists is an icon of Portugal, ‘says. And so it has started selling sardines in cloth, which have sold very well. But there are other ideas in development, such as photographs of canning factories Algarve black and white, old posters of some brands.
This entrepreneurial idea to combine tradition with innovation, looking for a quality result, may represent one of the bets to do and a way to go to the regional development of the Algarve.
SOURCE OF TEXT AND IMAGE: www.sulinformação.pt