Market opportunities for sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) products and services have been expanding recently after a long lasting decline due to sanitary problems and to a reduced demand. This paper describes first the main driving forces that are currently influencing the chestnut market, including the increased demand for "natural" products, new developments in harvesting and processing technologies and new trends in rural development policies in the European Union. In the second part, a brief analysis of various market segments is presented. Finally, new management and marketing instruments to promote chestnut products and services are discussed.