Azaïs-Polito

Artisan Manufacturer of fine Canned Fish Dishes

Azaïs-Polito, a small-scale manufacturer of canned fish, is known and recognised for the quality of its products, which have become gourmet products of Languedoc-Roussillon. This family business is now the last cannery in the town of Sète, the first fishing port in the Mediterranean, where it was founded in 1963 by two old industrial families. In 1945, Georges Azaïs, a famous Sète fishmonger and founder of the market fish auction, married Lisette Polito and introduced the family pasta business to the world of seafood. Through this alliance, Jean Polito and his brother-in-law George Azaïs would pave the way for a new business, which the two families run today, keeping the secrets that have been passed down from father to son for four generations. “I hope that someday one of my grandchildren will continue the family tradition of providing gourmet food lovers with the best products and with the same passion for excellence as my ancestors,” says Jean-Claude Polito, current CEO of the company.

From father to son, over decades, we strive daily to maintain these skills and our traditions. The small company has always perpetuated the artisanal methods of traditional preserves. Always made by hand according to our traditional methods, the conserves are distinguished from the rest by their exceptional flavour. The recipes for soups, salads, ready meals and sauces require a rigorous selection of the best ingredients of the highest quality. Scrupulous adherence to these original recipes and culinary refinement characterise the brand, which allows for delicious gastronomic moments. The products are authentic through their simplicity. Their charm derives from the gatronomie sétoise, which is stripped of any pretence to better showcase the natural products of the region. In Sète, a Mediterranean coastal village in the French region of Languedoc-Roussillion, “the singular island beloved by Paul Valéry”, we are very attached to the cuisine of his childhood, of port flavours influenced by Italian cooking. “Each recipe has its own touch, which, in my opinion, is unique. Each family, terroir and region displays its own flair,” says Jean-Claude Polito.

Jean Claude Polito, an heir to the business and with an entrepreneurial family spirit, embraced his destiny as a gourmet food manufacturer. He bet on innovation, brought the company to its current size and guaranteed him the position of ambassador of Sétoise’s traditional cuisine. Thanks to his family business, the specialities of Séte, a coastal village in the Languedoc-Roussillion region of southern France, were preserved in jars for export and tried beyond local borders for the first time in 1963. He became an artisanal preservationist, he says: “I guarantee that all our products are made respecting the taste and tradition of the original recipes handed down to me by my father, Jean; my grandfather, Claude; and my great-grandfather Giovanni. The fish soup recipe has been the same for almost 50 years, that’s all…. ”