Upon graduating from the American University of Beirut with a bachelor's degree in business administration, Emile Cortas went to work in the university's alumni office. Weekends, he would travel to the family home in the mountain village of Brummana. One such weekend, his mother, who was well known for her home-made jams, gave him a couple of jars of her apricot jam for his business school professor and friend, a Professor Nicoley. The Professor was so impressed that he advised Emile to go into the business. That summer, Emile helped his mother preserve the apricot crop, which together they packaged to present to friends and prospective customers.
Their summer experiment resulted in orders, and the business was born. Emile left his post at the university to build his own factory, as well as his knowledge of the jam-making business. In 1926, he apprenticed in Dublin with the Lambs of Ireland, famous jam-makers and old Cortas family friends. Upon his return to Lebanon, Emile imported the first of many top quality machines from Britain and started the Cortas Canning Company.