Mast Brothers

Last updated
Mast Brothers
IndustryChocolate
Founded Brooklyn, New York, October, 2007.
Area served
United States; United Kingdom
Key people
Rick and Michael Mast
ProductsChocolate bars, beverages, and confections.
OwnerRick and Michael Mast
Number of employees
50
Website http://mastbrothers.com/

Mast is an American artisanal chocolate company headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. [1] The company was founded in 2007 by brothers Rick and Michael Mast [2] from Primghar, Iowa. [3] [4] Mast Brothers, according to Vanity Fair , is "widely credited for introducing artisanal chocolate to mainstream American culture" [5] and has been instrumental in popularizing the bean-to-bar movement in America,. [6] However, Mast Brothers has also faced criticism and allegations that did not make their chocolate in the "bean-to-bar" style they claimed. [7]

Contents

History

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, [8] 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. [9]

Mast Brothers opened the first bean-to-bar chocolate factory in Los Angeles, California in May 2016. [10] The chocolate factory was located in a 6,000 square feet (560 m2) warehouse in the Arts District. In 2017, the company announced the closure of this retail space, along with their London location.[ citation needed ]

The company's Brooklyn building was located in Williamsburg. [11] Encompassing 3,000 square feet (280 m2), 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. [12] [13]

Mast Brothers opened London's first commercial bean-to-bar chocolate factory which has since closed [14] on Redchurch Street in Shoreditch, an East London neighborhood, [15] 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. [16]

Products

Makers of bean-to-bar chocolate oversee every step of the production process, from the cocoa bean to the wrapped bar. [17] [18] Mast Brothers offered 12 varieties of chocolate bars with their 2016 Collection, which launched during the London Design Festival. [19] 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). [20] The bars were available in three sizes. [7] [ needs update ]

In addition, Mast Brothers made a variety of chocolate confections at their Brooklyn and London locations, [21] and they offer a hot chocolate made by steaming shaved chocolate with milk, a brewed hot chocolate using a siphon, [22] and a chocolate beer that is brewed in-house with roasted cacao, cane sugar and water before being carbonated with nitrogen. [23]

Mast Brothers has worked with The Paris Review , Ace Hotel, [24] 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 [25] and a 2014 James Beard award finalist for photography. [26]

Controversy

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. [27]

The brothers faced controversy again in late 2015 when a Dallas-based food blogger, Scott Craig, raised questions about whether the brothers had, during their first years of operation, melted down chocolate (known as couverture) from another high-end French supplier, Valrhona, mixing it with their own ingredients, and whether they had always been an in-house "bean to bar" operation as they claimed. [7] [28] [17] Mast Brothers acknowledged it used some couverture in addition to making their own chocolate in its early experimentations [28] 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. [29]

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. [30] [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chocolate</span> Food produced from cacao seeds

Chocolate or cocoa is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cocoa has been consumed in some form for at least 5,300 years starting with the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in what is present-day Ecuador. Later Mesoamerican civilizations also consumed chocolate beverages, and it was introduced to Europe in the 16th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chocolate bar</span> Confection

A chocolate bar is a confection containing chocolate, which may also contain layerings or mixtures that include nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. A flat, easily breakable, chocolate bar is also called a tablet. In some varieties of English and food labeling standards, the term chocolate bar is reserved for bars of solid chocolate, with candy bar used for products with additional ingredients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindt</span> Swiss chocolate maker founded in 1845

Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, doing business as Lindt, is a Swiss chocolatier and confectionery company founded in 1845 and known for its chocolate truffles and chocolate bars, among other sweets. It is based in Kilchberg, where its main factory and museum are located. Lindt is one of the largest Swiss chocolate manufacturers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milk chocolate</span> Solid chocolate containing added milk

Milk chocolate is a form of solid chocolate containing cocoa, sugar and milk. It is the most consumed type of chocolate, and is used in a wide diversity of bars, tablets and other confectionery products. Milk chocolate contains smaller amounts of cocoa solids than dark chocolates do, and contains milk solids. While its taste has been key to its popularity, milk chocolate was historically promoted as a healthy food, particularly for children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White chocolate</span> Confectionery made from milk solids without cocoa solids

White chocolate is a confectionery typically made of sugar, milk, and cocoa butter, but no cocoa solids. It is pale ivory in color, and lacks many of the compounds found in milk, dark, and other chocolates. It is solid at room temperature because the melting point of cocoa butter, the only white cocoa bean component, is 35 °C (95 °F).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker</span> American chocolate manufacturer

Scharffen Berger is an American chocolate manufacturing company, which was a subsidiary of The Hershey Company after it had been acquired in 2005. Scharffen Berger was established as an independent Berkeley, California-based chocolate maker in 1996 by sparkling wine maker John Scharffenberger and physician Robert Steinberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valrhona</span> Chocolate company

Valrhona is a French premium chocolate manufacturer based in the small town of Tain-l'Hermitage in Hermitage, a wine-growing district near Lyon. It is now a subsidiary of Savencia Fromage & Dairy. The company was founded in 1922 by a French pastry chef, Albéric Guironnet, from the Rhône valley and has five subsidiaries and 60 local distributors across the globe. It is one of the leading producers of gastronomic chocolate in the world. The company also maintains the École du Grand Chocolat, a school for professional chefs with a focus on chocolate-based dishes and pastries. In 2015 Valrhona opened the École Valrhona Brooklyn, a pastry school in Brooklyn; there are also two Écoles Valrhona in France and one in Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michel Cluizel</span> French bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer

Michel Cluizel is a bean-to-bar chocolate making company that was founded in the French town of Damville in Normandy in 1948 by Marc Cluizel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Callebaut</span> Belgian chocolate brand

Callebaut is a Belgian coverture chocolate manufacturer owned by the Barry Callebaut group and based in Belgium. It was founded in 1911 by Octaaf Callebaut in Belgium. Coverture chocolate contains high amounts of cocoa butter and is often used by gourmet and culinary professionals. Many professionals who use Callebaut coverture chocolate use it for its workability and consistent taste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Types of chocolate</span> Classification of different chocolate types

Chocolate is a food product made from roasted and ground cocoa pods mixed with fat and powdered sugar to produce a solid confectionery. There are several types of chocolate, classified primarily according to the proportion of cocoa and fat content used in a particular formulation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swiss chocolate</span> Chocolate processed in Switzerland

Swiss chocolate is chocolate produced in Switzerland. Switzerland's chocolates have earned an international reputation for high quality with many famous international chocolate brands.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chocolate:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Askinosie Chocolate</span>

Askinosie Chocolate is a small batch, bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer based in Springfield, Missouri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amano Artisan Chocolate</span> American chocolate manufacturer

Amano Artisan Chocolate is an American bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer based in Orem, Utah.

Friis-Holm is a Danish high-quality bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer founded by Mikkel Friis-Holm Ottosen and operating out of Herslev village in Lejre Municipality, Denmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zotter Schokolade</span>

Zotter Schokolade is an Austrian chocolate manufacturer specializing in organic and fairly traded bean-to-bar chocolate. The company was founded in 1999 by Josef Zotter and is based in Riegersburg, Styria. Zotter is mostly active in German-speaking Europe, with 90 percent of distribution outlets being located in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. As one of Austria's most well-known trademarks, Zotter is considered a national high equity brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Marcolini</span> Belgian chocolatier (born 1964)

Pierre Marcolini is a Belgian chocolatier born in Charleroi, Belgium, in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruby chocolate</span> Variety of chocolate

Ruby chocolate is a style or distinct variety of chocolate that is pink or purple in colour. Barry Callebaut, a Belgian–Swiss cocoa company, introduced it as a distinct product on 5 September 2017 after beginning development of their product in 2004. It has a pink color, and Barry Callebaut says it is a fourth natural type of chocolate. Some other industry experts have said that some cacao pods are naturally pink or purple in colour, and thus pink chocolate has been available before.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bean-to-bar</span> From cocoa bean to chocolate bar

Bean-to-bar is a trade model in which a bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer controls the manufacturing of chocolate from the procurement of beans to the creation of the end product of consumer chocolate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockwood & Company</span> Former chocolate maniufacturer in New York City

Rockwood & Company was a New York City-based chocolatier which operated from 1886 until 1957. It coordinated the industry's first resale price contracts, operated the largest chocolate factory in New York, and was the second largest producer of chocolate in the United States, after the Hershey Company. Founded in the borough of Manhattan, it moved to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Wallabout, gradually expanding its footprint to occupy most of a city block. In 1919, a fire led to a flood of chocolate in the street, attracting a crowd of children. Rockwood & Company sold the factory to the Sweets Company of America in 1957, who used it to produce Tootsie Rolls until it closed in 1967. The Rockwood & Company factory complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, which was later merged into the Wallabout Industrial Historic District. It was converted to luxury apartments in 1996.

References

  1. ↑ Schwaner-Albright, Oliver (24 February 2009). "Brooklyn's New Culinary Movement". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  2. ↑ Reddinger, Paige (7 April 2008). "Brooklyn's Dark Secret". Time. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Wallace, Benjamin (April 15, 2012). "The Twee Party". New York Magazine. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  4. ↑ Moskin, Julia (October 21, 2013). "Discussing Chocolate With the Mast Brothers". The New York Times. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  5. ↑ Nguyen, Tina (December 18, 2015). "Celebrity Hipster Chocolatiers Reportedly Sold Remelted Commercial Chocolate". Vanity Fair . Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  6. ↑ Scherer, Josh (December 3, 2015). "Very Cool Chocolatiers The Mast Brothers Popping Up in Very Cool Scandinavian Design Studio". Los Angeles Magazine.
  7. 1 2 3 Walters, Joanna (December 19, 2015). "Mast Brothers: controversial world's 'best' chocolate faces swirl of scandal" . Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  8. ↑ Brennan, George. "Man's maritime venture hits the road in Falmouth". Cape Cod Times.
  9. ↑ Grossman, Andrew (June 15, 2011). "Cocoa Arrives, By Sail". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  10. ↑ Platt, Heather (March 29, 2016). "Mast Brothers Brings L.A.'s First Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Factory to Downtown". L.A. Weekly.
  11. ↑ "Mast Brothers designs its own Minimalist chocolate shop in Brooklyn". Dezeen. September 16, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Hipster Chocolatier Mast Brothers Exits Brooklyn". eater.com. August 27, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  13. ↑ Tatananni, Mackenzie (2022-02-28). "Mast Market Hits the Sweet Spot at Its Mount Kisco Location". Westchester Magazine. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  14. ↑ Ramsey, Dom (December 12, 2014). "Mast Brothers take up residence at London's Ace Hotel". Chocablog.
  15. ↑ Dixler, Hilary (February 16, 2015). "Hot Brooklyn Chocolatiers the Mast Brothers Explode Onto London Scene". Eater.
  16. ↑ Redifer, Lindsay. "Post Scandal, the Mast Brothers Regroup". Craft Sense. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  17. 1 2 Pashman, Dan (2015-12-23). "Are You A Sucker If You Like Mast Brothers Chocolate?". NPR. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  18. ↑ Shanker, Deena. "How the Mast Brothers fooled the world into paying $10 a bar for crappy hipster chocolate". Quartz. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  19. ↑ "Mast Brothers launches new chocolate collection during London Design Festival". Design Boom. September 25, 2015.
  20. ↑ Bobb, Brooke (September 22, 2015). "The Sweet New Look (and Taste) of Mast Brothers Chocolate". Vogue.
  21. ↑ Keller, Hadley (August 31, 2015). "Brooklyn's Mast Brothers Debut a New Flagship and Introduce Chocolate Beer". Architectural Digest.
  22. ↑ "In Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Heaven at Mast Brothers". Bobby Flay. February 13, 2015.
  23. ↑ Cave, Jame (July 24, 2015). "These Real-Life Wonkas Are Making Chocolate Beer A Reality". The Huffington Post . Archived from the original on 2016-01-29. Retrieved 2019-09-07.
  24. ↑ "Mast Brothers take up residence at London's Ace Hotel". Chocablog. December 12, 2014. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  25. ↑ "IACP 2014 Cookbook Awards". Archived from the original on December 25, 2015. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  26. ↑ "James Beard Foundation" . Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  27. ↑ Giller, Megan (16 March 2015). "Against Mast Brothers: Why chocolate experts hate the best-known craft chocolate brand in America". Slate. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  28. 1 2 3 Nir, Sarah Maslin (December 20, 2015). "Unwrapping the Mythos of Mast Brothers Chocolate in Brooklyn". The New York Times. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  29. ↑ Choi, Candice (December 24, 2015). "Chocolate makers: We were honest about remelted chocolate". Associated Press. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  30. ↑ Podolsky, Jeffrey (February 6, 2015). "See All of the Mast Brothers Chocolate Wrappers". Vanity Fair. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.