About Clement Faugier
- Based in
- Privas, Ardèche, France
- Founded
- 1882
- Known for
- crème de marrons (sweet chestnut spread)
Clément Faugier has been in business since 1882 and is based in Privas, in the Ardèche. The company describes itself as the creator of crème de marrons, the sweetened chestnut spread, and it has made it since 1885. Its other chestnut products are tied to Ardèche chestnuts as well.
Crème de marrons is easy to use. Spread it on crêpes or buttered toast, swirl it through plain yogurt or whipped cream, or pipe it between meringues with cream for a quick take on Mont Blanc. It also folds well into a plain cake batter or a batch of vanilla ice cream base before churning.
Clement Faugier questions
What are Ardèche chestnuts?
Chestnuts are a traditional crop in the Ardèche, a department of south-central France whose acidic soil and upland climate suit the trees. Fresh chestnuts, dried chestnuts and chestnut flour grown there can carry the Châtaigne d'Ardèche AOP label, a protected name that guarantees where they grew, from registered, traceable orchards farmed without chemical fertilizers. Clément Faugier's range is tied to Ardèche chestnuts.
Who invented crème de marrons?
Clément Faugier, an engineer in Privas, in France's Ardèche. In 1882, looking for a way to revive the local economy during a crisis in the Lyon textile trade, he and a local confectioner opened the town's first factory to make marrons glacés on an industrial scale. In 1885 he launched a vanilla chestnut spread made from the candied chestnuts that broke during production, and the company still makes it.
