Before the French Revolution, sugar was imported from Antilias. One did'nt knew how to produce sugar from beets.
By
year 1806, among numerous disasters Napoleon 1st organized in Europe,
it will be no longer possible to import sugar from Antilias.
Because
any sea trade was forbidden due to Napoleon's continental blocus. By
the way, this blocus ruined several countries in France, mainly
Brittany in the west of France.
At the beginning of the XIX
century, Leray de Chaumont built a sugar factury whose fabrication
process was disvered by Chaptal, but never industrialized.
Thanks to Leray, sugar could be produced again in France.