First and foremost, it's important to realise that chicory is a plant. Mature roots weigh around 300g and absorb lots of beneficial nutrients from the surrounding environment as they grow.
Leroux uses these roots to produce stimulant-free drinks derived solely from plants.
GrowingSeeds are sown in spring, in late March or early April. Chicory is grown mainly in the Flanders region by local farmers who sow and harvest the crop.
They are firmly committed to local growing and work hand in hand with Leroux to create a product of impeccable quality.
Chicory roots need around six months to reach maturity, so they are harvested in the autumn. They are taken to the drying plant in Vieille-Eglise (in Pas-de-Calais, in northern France) where they are washed, cut into thin slices and dried by warm air in cylindrical ovens. The dried slices of chicory are known as 'cossettes' and are then stored ready for roasting.
After drying, the 'cossettes' are taken to the Leroux plant in Orchies, in the Nord region of France. Water, air, heat - along with years of know-how - are the essential ingredients needed to process the chicory. Processing the product demands real expertise: caramelising the juices at just the right temperature without letting them burn, controlling the precise amount of time needed to produce the unique flavour of chicory during roasting, and much more: a subtle combination guaranteed by the Master roasters at Leroux. Once they have been cooled, the 'cossettes' are crushed to produce fine granules.
The chicory flower
Known as "bachelor's button", blue daisy and by many other names in English, in France the chicory flower is nicknamed "the sun's fiancée" and is one of the stars of the summer: it follows the sun all day, starting out dark blue, getting paler by midday and turning white by the time it closes in the evening.
