The idea of using a sealed vessel as an integral part of a food
preservation process rather than as a merely convenient storage
receptacle was seize upon and developed by the Frenchman M. Nicolas
Appert ((17 November 1749 – 1 June 1841). In the early 1800s Nicolas
Appert established an operation in Massy, La Maison d‘Appert (House of
Appert, devoted to food preservation.
By 1804 this operation was a functioning as a full scale canning plant,
the first in the world. It included a farm so that food could be
preserved as the same location in which it was grown.
In 1795, the French Directory which ruled France decided they need to
find a better way to ensure adequate supplies of food for soldier. They
offered a prize of 12000 francs to anyone who could come up with a new
way of preserving food so it could be transported over long distance.
When Napoleon came to power in 1799, no one had solved the problem. Six
years later Appert submitted his preserved food at an exhibition. He was
given the 12000 francs four years later on the condition that he made
his findings public.
In 1810, Appert did publish a book, The Art of Preserving All Kinds of Animal and Vegetables Substances for Several Years, which was translated into English and published in New York two years later.
Invention of airtight food preservation by Nicolas Appert
