Leroux c’est la chicoréeLa chicorée c'est LerouxLeroux c’est la chicorée
2023
TARGETING A NEW RANGE OF PRODUCTS
We launched a whole new range of flavoured chicory products. Our aim is to familiarise more people with the great taste of chicory!
Our firm is still successful after all these years of operation thanks to our workers, true chicory fans, who are constantly improving their skills to launch top quality products for chicory lovers… Here are the details of this true love story, which we would love to share with you.
2022
2022 WAS A YEAR OF CHANGE!
We launched a new identity, a new logo, going back to our roots at the request of our customers of all ages. We took the time to look back over our history while designing a new future.
2018
TARGETING MORE RESPONSIBLE PRODUCTS
As usual, Chicorée Leroux changed its approach to keep its customers happy by launching its organic range in 2018, to celebrate the brand’s 160 anniversary. Customers were delighted to spot an organic product on the chicory shelves at long last.
1998
CHICORÉE LEROUX HELPED TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT, EVEN BACK THEN.
Chicorée Leroux was the first European firm to invest in a fertigation system and proved to be well ahead of its time when it came to treating process water.
1963
THE MARC & DOMINIQUE SAGA
Chicorée Leroux managed to establish its presence on the TV and started showing advertisements, attracting the attention of many French viewers. Some of its adverts became pop culture references at the time, such as the adverts with the twins, Marc & Dominique, which ran on French TV for a decade.
1951-1954
CHICORY, HERE, NOW, RIGHT AWAY!
Back in 1951, Alain Leroux understood what consumers wanted, to be able to enjoy a chicory drink pretty much right now. Building on this conclusion, he harnessed the technological developments achieved by his firm in order to create instant chicory. Chicory fans were delighted with this new product, they no longer had to wait for their hot or cold drinks. 3 years later, chicory became a breakfast and cooking recipe staple with the invention of liquid chicory, 100% chicory concentrate with a sweeter taste and mellow body.
1950
CHICORY, THE DRINK OF CHAMPIONS
Robert Leroux was a fan of sport in general and cycling in particular, and set up a team of VIP cyclists including names such as Jean Stablinski and Jacques Anquetil, with the unanimous goal of winning Tour de France. He won his bet, this team won the prestigious French cycling competition three times between 1956 and 1962. After this great start, the firm sponsored various sports for the next 40 years, focusing on basketball with the Orchies team, and football with the RC Lens club.
1904
SAYING THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOYALTY!
Alphonse-Henri-Eugène Leroux, the new company CEO, decided to thank chicory grain customers, and invented a loyalty system by printing cut-out coupons on packets, which customers collected and swapped for a free gift when they had enough.
1899
THE BRETON GIRL: THE CHICORÉE LEROUX EMBLEM
Chicorée Leroux adopted the “Breton Girl” as the emblem of its grain packets to boost its reputation and image. Thanks to this approach, by creating the image of a more modern and stylish product, Chicorée Leroux was able to stand out from its competitors and attract the attention of chicory users. The Breton Girl stood strong on grain packets for over a century before gradually being replaced by other logos in 2023.
1871
NOTHING BUT CHICORY!
The plant was burnt down in a fire and the firm had to move and set up a new site in the centre of Orchies, next to a railway line. Alphonse-Henri-François Leroux decided to drop tapioca, mustard and chocolate production after this move, and focus fully on chicory.
1858
AN IDYLLIC LOVE STORY
The love story between Leroux and chicory started when Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Leroux acquired the Herbo fils&Cie manufacturing plant. The firm had specialised in the production and sale of tapioca, mustard, and, how could we forget, roasted chicory or the famous “Chicory grains”, since 1840.
Chicory took over from coffee in French homes. Right in the middle of war, Napoléon decided to set up a blockade against English imports such as coffee. At that point, a bakery decided to sell chicory instead of coffee. Sales took off and chicory became the most popular drink in France, standing proud in all French homes.
15TH CENTURY
THE CHICORIUM INTYBUS PLANT IS KNOWN FOR 2 DIFFERENT USES:
as food and for medicinal reasons. Just like many other plants, wild chicory was a medicinal plant and used by the pharmaceutical industry to make traditional plant-based drugs.
-2000
CHICORY’S FIRST MENTION IN THE HISTORY BOOKS
Chicory was first mentioned in ancient times. The Greeks and the Egyptians appear to have been the first to appreciate the plant and its benefits. Back at that time, the chicory roots were baked on flat stones.
