Mast is an American artisanal

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

company headquartered in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. The company was founded in 2007 by brothers Rick and Michael Mast from Primghar, Iowa. Mast Brothers, according to '' Vanity Fair'', is "widely credited for introducing artisanal chocolate to mainstream American culture" and has been instrumental in popularizing the bean-to-bar movement in America. 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.

History

According to ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', in May 2011, Mast Brothers chartered the three-masted ''Black Seal'', a 70-foot

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

built over 25 years by Captain Eric Loftfield, to sail from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

in order to pick up 20 tons of

cocoa bean The cocoa bean, also known as cocoa () or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', the cacao tree, from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted. Cacao tree ...

s. 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. In March 2015, the online magazine ''

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'' published a critical piece about Mast Brothers, condemning their lack of involvement in the artisanal chocolate business community, and alleging that a few

boutique A () is a retail shop that deals in high end fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in anc ...

chocolate retailers avoid carrying their products. The company faced further controversy later that year when a

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

-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. 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. Mast Brothers opened the first

bean-to-bar Bean-to-bar is a business model in which a List of bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturers, chocolate manufacturer controls the entire manufacturing process from procuring cocoa beans to creating the end product of consumer chocolate. History St ...

chocolate factory in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in May 2016. The chocolate factory was located in a warehouse in the

Arts District An arts district or cultural district is a demarcated urban area, usually on the periphery of a city centre, intended to create a 'critical mass' of places of cultural consumption - such as art galleries, theatres, art cinemas, music venues, and p ...

. In 2017, the company announced the closure of this retail space, along with their London location. The company's Brooklyn building was located in Williamsburg. Encompassing , 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 Mount Kisco is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village and Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The town of Mount Kisco is coterminous municipality, coterminous with the ...

later that year. Mast Brothers opened London's first commercial bean-to-bar chocolate factory which has since closed on Redchurch Street in

Shoreditch Shoreditch is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney alongside neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets, which are also perceived as part of the area due to historic ecclesiastical links. Shoreditch lies just north ...

, an

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

neighborhood, 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.

Products

Makers of

chocolate oversee every step of the production process, from the cocoa bean to the wrapped bar. Mast Brothers offered 12 varieties of chocolate bars with their 2016 Collection, which launched during the London Design Festival. 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). The bars were available in three sizes. In addition, Mast Brothers made a variety of chocolate confections at their Brooklyn and London locations, and they offer a

hot chocolate Hot Chocolate are a British soul band formed by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson. The group had at least one hit song every year on the UK Singles Chart from 1970 to 1984. Their hits include " You Sexy Thing", a UK number two which also made ...

made by steaming shaved chocolate with milk, a brewed hot chocolate using a siphon, and a chocolate beer that is brewed in-house with roasted cacao, cane sugar and water before being carbonated with

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

. Mast Brothers has worked with ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

'', Ace Hotel, and other organizations to create collaborative products. ''Mast Brothers: A Family Cookbook'' (by authors Rick and Michael Mast and a foreword by

Thomas Keller Thomas Aloysius Keller (born October 14, 1955) is an American chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, the French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Found ...

) was published in October 2013 by Little, Brown & Company. The book was the winner of the 2014 IACP Award for single subject and a 2014 James Beard award finalist for photography.

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

References

External links

Official website
{{Portal bar, Business, Companies, Food, New York City Brand name chocolate American chocolate companies Food and drink companies established in 2007 Luxury brands Companies based in Brooklyn Food manufacturers based in New York City 2007 establishments in New York City

History

Products

Awards and recognition

See also

References

External links