La Chanca

The excellence of La Chanca's products is mainly due to the raw material from the southern coasts of Cadiz, especially the bluefin tuna. It is essential to have a high quality raw material, but it is also important to preserve its properties and flavour until its final consumption.

The migration of the bluefin tuna (Thunnus Thynnus) takes place along the southern coast of Cadiz in late spring. After spending the winter feeding in the cold waters of the North Atlantic, from March onwards they travel more than 2,500 miles to the warmer waters of the Mediterranean to breed. Travelling in schools of hundreds or even thousands, they take advantage of the strong sea currents in the Strait of Gibraltar to approach the coast of Cadiz and reach their destination.

This migratory phenomenon was already known to the Phoenicians, Greeks and Moors but it was the Romans who established the greatest activity around tuna and developed its exploitation (fishing, conservation and trade).

Tuna salting factories abounded in Roman Spain.
Today, these millenary fishing techniques such as the Almadraba (an ancestral fishing technique with nets) are still used.

All the production lines developed by La Chanca (whether canned or vacuum-packed, preserved in salt or smoked) are made using traditional methods and in some cases, such as salting, using techniques that date back more than three thousand years. These tasks are carried out by specialised and professional staff who have acquired their knowledge over the years thanks to the town's links with the sea.

All its products are elaborated with natural ingredients such as Andalusian olive oil or sea salt from the neighbouring towns of Chiclana and San Fernando (Cadiz). La Chanca offers a wide variety of flavours for all tastes thanks to high quality products: the fish is processed to offer it to the consumer in a canned form that preserves its nutritional properties.

The term "Chanca" is a provincialism used in Andalusia to describe the place where fish such as tuna, anchovies and mackerel are salted in order to preserve them. The La Chanca brand shows a possible balance between tradition, respect for the product and the search for excellence.