 Clément Faugier, a civil engineer, was looking for a way to revitalize the regional economy.In 1882 at Privas, he invented the technology to make "marrons glacés" on an industrial scale (although a great number of the more than 20 necessary steps from harvest to the finished product are still accomplished manually).Chestnuts are picked in autumn, and candied from the start of the following summer for the ensuing Christmas.