Mast Brothers
{{Short description|Chocolate company in New York}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Mast Brothers
| logo = Mast_Brothers_Chocolate.jpg
| logo_size = 150px
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| industry = Chocolate
| founded = Brooklyn, New York, October, 2007.
| founder =
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| area_served = United States; United Kingdom
| key_people = Rick and Michael Mast
| products = Chocolate bars, beverages, and confections.
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| owner = Rick and Michael Mast
| num_employees = 50
| website = http://mastbrothers.com/
}}
Mast is an American artisanal chocolate company headquartered in Brooklyn, New York.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/dining/25brooklyn.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|title=Brooklyn's New Culinary Movement|last=Schwaner-Albright|first=Oliver|date=24 February 2009|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=20 December 2015}} The company was founded in 2007 by brothers Rick and Michael Mast{{cite web|url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1717144_1866357,00.html|title=Brooklyn's Dark Secret|last=Reddinger|first=Paige|date=7 April 2008|magazine=Time|access-date=20 December 2015}} from Primghar, Iowa.{{cite news|url= http://nymag.com/news/features/artisanal-brooklyn-2012-4/|title=The Twee Party|first=Benjamin|last=Wallace|work=New York Magazine|date=April 15, 2012|access-date=December 24, 2015}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/22/dining/discussing-chocolate-with-the-mast-brothers.html|title=Discussing Chocolate With the Mast Brothers|work=The New York Times|date=October 21, 2013|access-date=December 26, 2015|first=Julia|last=Moskin}} Mast Brothers, according to Vanity Fair, is "widely credited for introducing artisanal chocolate to mainstream American culture"{{cite news|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/12/mast-brothers-chocolate-scandal|title=Celebrity Hipster Chocolatiers Reportedly Sold Remelted Commercial Chocolate|date=December 18, 2015|website=Vanity Fair|access-date=December 21, 2015|first=Tina|last=Nguyen}} and has been instrumental in popularizing the bean-to-bar movement in America.{{Cite news|url = http://www.lamag.com/digestblog/super-cool-chocolatiers-the-mast-brothers-popping-up-in-super-cool-scandinavian-design-studio/|title = Very Cool Chocolatiers The Mast Brothers Popping Up in Very Cool Scandinavian Design Studio|last = Scherer|first = Josh|date = December 3, 2015|work = Los Angeles Magazine}} However, Mast Brothers has also faced criticism and allegations that for a time after the company's creation, they did not make their chocolate in the "bean-to-bar" style they claimed.{{cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/19/mast-brothers-chocolate-scandal|title = Mast Brothers: controversial world's 'best' chocolate faces swirl of scandal|date = December 19, 2015|access-date = December 21, 2015|first = Joanna|last = Walters}}
History
File:Mast Brothers Chocolate Factory.jpg
According to The Wall Street Journal, in May 2011, Mast Brothers chartered the three-masted Black Seal, a 70-foot schooner built over 25 years by Captain Eric Loftfield,{{Cite news |last=Brennan |first=George |title=Man's maritime venture hits the road in Falmouth |work=Cape Cod Times |url=http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20050407/NEWS01/304079973}} to sail from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to the Dominican Republic in order to pick up 20 tons of cocoa beans. On June 14, 2011, the Black Seal arrived at the Red Hook waterfront in Brooklyn where a group of deckhands and makers of artisanal chocolate unloaded the cocoa beans from the schooner. It was the first time a sailing ship had unloaded commercial cargo in New York since 1939, according to one city official.{{Cite news |last=Grossman |first=Andrew |date=June 15, 2011 |title=Cocoa Arrives, By Sail |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303714704576385951539124310 |access-date=December 24, 2015}}
In March 2015, the online magazine Slate published a critical piece about Mast Brothers, condemning their lack of involvement in the artisanal chocolate business community, and alleging that a few boutique chocolate retailers avoid carrying their products.{{cite news |last=Giller |first=Megan |date=16 March 2015 |title=Against Mast Brothers: Why chocolate experts hate the best-known craft chocolate brand in America. |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2015/03/against_mast_brothers_why_chocolate_experts_hate_the_best_known_craft_chocolate.html |access-date=23 December 2015 |work=Slate}} The company faced further controversy later that year when a Dallas-based food blogger, Scott Craig, challenged whether Mast Brothers had always been an in-house "bean to bar" operation as they claimed. Instead, he asserted during their first years of operation, they had melted down chocolate (known as couverture) from another high-end French supplier, Valrhona, mixing it with their own ingredients.{{cite news |last=Nir |first=Sarah Maslin |date=December 20, 2015 |title=Unwrapping the Mythos of Mast Brothers Chocolate in Brooklyn |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/21/nyregion/unwrapping-mast-brothers-chocolatier-mythos.html |access-date=December 21, 2015 |work=The New York Times}} Mast Brothers acknowledged it used some couverture in addition to making their own chocolate in its early experimentations but said that the practice had ended in 2009, and that none of their early products had ever been misrepresented as "bean to bar" offerings.{{cite news |last=Choi |first=Candice |date=December 24, 2015 |title=Chocolate makers: We were honest about remelted chocolate |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ea166bb0abf64698b5ec73f17277b4bd/chocolate-maker-we-were-honest-about-remelted-chocolate |access-date=December 24, 2015 |agency=Associated Press}}
Mast Brothers opened the first bean-to-bar chocolate factory in Los Angeles, California in May 2016.{{Cite news |last=Platt |first=Heather |date=March 29, 2016 |title=Mast Brothers Brings L.A.'s First Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Factory to Downtown |work=L.A. Weekly |url=http://www.laweekly.com/restaurants/mast-brothers-brings-las-first-bean-to-bar-chocolate-factory-to-downtown-6760076}} The chocolate factory was located in a {{Convert|6000|ft2|m2|abbr=}} warehouse in the Arts District. In 2017, the company announced the closure of this retail space, along with their London location.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}
The company's Brooklyn building was located in Williamsburg.{{Cite news |date=September 16, 2015 |title=Mast Brothers designs its own Minimalist chocolate shop in Brooklyn |work=Dezeen |url=http://www.dezeen.com/2015/09/16/mast-brothers-flagship-store-interior-brooklyn-new-york-chocolate-shop-roasting-room/}} Encompassing {{Convert|3000|ft2|m2|abbr=}}, the chocolate shop was located inside a building that once served as a spice factory and today houses various small companies. The store closed in 2019 and the company opened Mast Market in Mount Kisco, New York later that year.{{Cite news |date=August 27, 2019 |title=Hipster Chocolatier Mast Brothers Exits Brooklyn |work=eater.com |url=https://ny.eater.com/platform/amp/2019/8/27/20833017/mast-brothers-williamsburg-nyc |access-date=February 12, 2020}}{{Cite web |last=Tatananni |first=Mackenzie |date=2022-02-28 |title=Mast Market Hits the Sweet Spot at Its Mount Kisco Location |url=https://westchestermagazine.com/life-style/business/mast-market/ |access-date=2022-04-26 |website=Westchester Magazine |language=en-US}}
Mast Brothers opened London's first commercial bean-to-bar chocolate factory which has since closed{{Cite news|url=http://www.chocablog.com/features/mast-brothers-take-residence-londons-ace-hotel/|title=Mast Brothers take up residence at London's Ace Hotel|last=Ramsey|first=Dom|date=December 12, 2014|work=Chocablog}} on Redchurch Street in Shoreditch, an East London neighborhood,{{Cite news|url = http://www.eater.com/2015/2/16/8045863/mast-brothers-chocolate-london-shoreditch-now-open#4670554|title = Hot Brooklyn Chocolatiers the Mast Brothers Explode Onto London Scene|last = Dixler|first = Hilary|date = February 16, 2015|work = Eater}} where customers could see the chocolate production process as well as buy chocolate products. As of early 2018, Mast Brothers had permanently shut their London retail location.{{cite web|last1=Redifer|first1=Lindsay|title=Post Scandal, the Mast Brothers Regroup|url=https://craftsense.co/craftfood/post-scandal-mast-brothers-regroup/|website=Craft Sense|access-date=6 March 2018}}
Products
Makers of bean-to-bar chocolate oversee every step of the production process, from the cocoa bean to the wrapped bar.{{Cite news |last=Pashman |first=Dan |date=2015-12-23 |title=Are You A Sucker If You Like Mast Brothers Chocolate? |language=en |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/23/460819387/are-you-a-sucker-if-you-like-mast-brothers-chocolate |access-date=2022-04-29}}{{Cite web |last=Shanker |first=Deena |title=How the Mast Brothers fooled the world into paying $10 a bar for crappy hipster chocolate |url=https://qz.com/571151/the-mast-brothers-fooled-the-world-into-buying-crappy-hipster-chocolate-for-10-a-bar/ |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=Quartz |language=en}} Mast Brothers offered 12 varieties of chocolate bars with their 2016 Collection, which launched during the London Design Festival.{{Cite news|url = http://www.designboom.com/design/mast-brothers-2016-collection-shoreditch-london-design-festival-09-25-2015/|title = Mast Brothers launches new chocolate collection during London Design Festival|date = September 25, 2015|work = Design Boom}} The 2016 Collection consisted of six dark chocolate bars (Sea Salt, Mint, Olive Oil, Almond Butter, and their signature Dark) and six milk chocolate bars (Goat Milk, Sheep Milk, Vanilla, Maple, Coffee, and their signature Milk).{{Cite news|url = http://www.vogue.com/13351094/food-mast-brothers-chocolate-redesign/|title = The Sweet New Look (and Taste) of Mast Brothers Chocolate|last = Bobb|first = Brooke|date = September 22, 2015|work = Vogue}} The bars were available in three sizes.{{Update inline|date=February 2023}}
In addition, Mast Brothers made a variety of chocolate confections at their Brooklyn and London locations,{{Cite news|url = http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/mast-brothers-flagship-chocolate-beer|title = Brooklyn's Mast Brothers Debut a New Flagship and Introduce Chocolate Beer|last = Keller|first = Hadley|date = August 31, 2015|work = Architectural Digest}} and they offer a hot chocolate made by steaming shaved chocolate with milk, a brewed hot chocolate using a siphon,{{Cite news|url = http://bobbyflay.com/b-team-blog/blog/128/in-bean-to-bar-chocolate-heaven-at-mast-brothers?print=true|title = In Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Heaven at Mast Brothers|date = February 13, 2015|work = Bobby Flay}} and a chocolate beer that is brewed in-house with roasted cacao, cane sugar and water before being carbonated with nitrogen.{{Cite news|url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mast-brothers-chocolate-beer_us_55b284d7e4b0a13f9d1878e4|title = These Real-Life Wonkas Are Making Chocolate Beer A Reality|last = Cave|first = Jame|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129015510/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mast-brothers-chocolate-beer_us_55b284d7e4b0a13f9d1878e4 |archive-date=2016-01-29 |date = July 24, 2015|work = The Huffington Post |access-date = 2019-09-07 |url-status=dead }}
Mast Brothers has worked with The Paris Review, Ace Hotel,{{Cite web |date=December 12, 2014 |title=Mast Brothers take up residence at London's Ace Hotel |url=http://www.chocablog.com/features/mast-brothers-take-residence-londons-ace-hotel/ |access-date=December 26, 2015 |website=Chocablog}} and other organizations to create collaborative products.
Mast Brothers: A Family Cookbook (by authors Rick and Michael Mast and a foreword by Thomas Keller) was published in October 2013 by Little, Brown & Company. The book was the winner of the 2014 IACP Award for single subject{{Cite web|url =https://www.iacp.com/award/more/cookbook_awards_2014|title =IACP 2014 Cookbook Awards|access-date =December 24, 2015|url-status =dead|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20151225033339/https://www.iacp.com/award/more/cookbook_awards_2014|archive-date =December 25, 2015}} and a 2014 James Beard award finalist for photography.{{Cite web|url = http://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/complete-2014-jbf-award-nominees|title = James Beard Foundation|access-date = December 24, 2015}}
Awards and recognition
The company has gained attention both for the quality of its packaging design as well as for its chocolate, including praise from French Laundry chef Thomas Keller.{{cite magazine |last=Podolsky |first=Jeffrey |date=February 6, 2015 |title=See All of the Mast Brothers Chocolate Wrappers |magazine=Vanity Fair |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/02/mast-brothers-chocolate-wrappers |access-date=December 21, 2015}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://mastbrothers.com Official website]
{{Portal bar|Business|Companies|Food|New York City}}
Category:American chocolate companies
Category:Food and drink companies established in 2007
Category:Companies based in Brooklyn