It was in 1779 that Charles François GIRAUD , a man of great intelligence and very enterprising, introduced the cultivation of chicory in France and founded in Onnaing near Valenciennes, the first chicory factory in France.
He first worked the root in a green state, but this had the disadvantage of reducing the production at the time of harvesting, since it was impossible to keep chicory in this state. Charles François GIRAUD, also owned a spinning mill and especially a grain distillery.
Subject ID: 83954
MoreIt was in 1779 that Charles François GIRAUD , a man of great intelligence and very enterprising, introduced the cultivation of chicory in France and founded in Onnaing near Valenciennes, the first chicory factory in France.
He first worked the root in a green state, but this had the disadvantage of reducing the production at the time of harvesting, since it was impossible to keep chicory in this state. Charles François GIRAUD, also owned a spinning mill and especially a grain distillery.
He had the ingenious idea of first drying the roots on the kiln of his malt house and, to promote desiccation, he divided them into small elongated cubes; cossettes had just been invented. From then on, roasting became an activity spread over the whole year.
The success was then complete and the actual manufacture of Café Chicorée was assured; a new industry was born.
Charles François GIRAUD died in 1827; his daughter Elizabeth GIRAUD married M Chrysothome WILLIOT. From this union was born Zulnard WILLIOT- MASSON who founded the Poix du Nord factory in the North in 1880.
His successor in the Company was his son Zulnard WILLIOT - LEGRAND, who himself had a son Jules Eloi WILLIOT, owner and director of the chicory factory from 1914.
Jules Eloi WILLIOT was taken prisoner at the start of the 14-18 war in Maubeuge; In his absence, his wife Emilie will run the business, following the advice sent from Germany by her husband; She set up offices and a factory in La Garenne Colombes from 1917 to 1920. Upon his release in 1918, Jules Eloi took over the management of the business with the help of his three sons: Jules Emile, Michel and Albert.
Jules Eloi looked for a new production site and set up a second factory in Sablé sur Sarthe, buying in 1918 the Château de Sablé, built between 1715 and 1750 by Jean Baptiste Colbert de Torcy, Marquis de Sablé (1665 - 1745), secretary of state in foreign affairs under Louis XIV. production at the Château de Sablé started in 1920.
At that time, WIILIOT represents the 1st chicory brand in FRANCE.
After the Second World War, the family experienced turmoil and the WILLIOT brand began to decline.
The production of WILLIOT chicory in Sablé sur Sarthe lasted until 1962.
The business has always belonged to the WILLIOT family until the Company and the Brand were taken over by the LEROUX Company in the 1970s; the castle of Sablé, inhabited by Charles François WILLIOT, son of Jules Emile, was sold to the State by the family in 1978.
Today, Maison LEROUX, located in Orchies in the North, has an archive collection on WILLIOT chicory
Subject ID: 83954
Subject ID: 83954