Why it belongs in ORBIS
Provencal confectioner founded in Aix-en-Provence in 1920 by Ernest Guillet; his son Rene built the calisson business from 1947. Makes the diamond-shaped almond-and-candied-melon calisson d'Aix, plus nougats and fruit pastes, from a factory and museum outside the city.
Le Roy Rene was founded in Aix-en-Provence in 1920 by Ernest Guillet, and it was his son Rene who, from 1947 onward, built calisson production into the core of the business. The calisson itself is much older: legend traces the almond-and-candied-melon sweet to the 1454 wedding of King Rene of Anjou to Jeanne de Laval. Le Roy Rene still makes its calissons d'Aix, along with white and black Provencal nougats, fruit pastes, caramels and chocolates, at a factory and museum just outside Aix-en-Provence that the company opens to visitors.