Mast Brothers Chocolate and a Recipe for Scandal

Until last week, the Mast Brothers Chocolate Makers seemed to be living a hipster fairytale. Rick and Michael Mast are bearded brothers from Iowa. They started making their own chocolate in a Brooklyn apartment about ten years ago. Now their chocolate bars go for $10 a pop at their own shops. They’re also sold at restaurants, high-end groceries and fancy clothing stores. But then a food blogger published a series of posts accusing the Masts of lying about their ingredients and their so-called ‘bean-to-bar’ process. The backlash since then says as much about the power of food marketing as it does about their particular brand.