at their disposal and thousands
of fishhook patterns in their sales program. The company also
produces fully automatic systems for commercial long-lining
- the Mustad Autoline and Miniline Systems. Today many Mustad
products are world market leaders.
The "old way": Surface treatment of hooks
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Hookmakers
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Hans Mustad
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Back in 1877, at the time Hans Skikkelstad's son-in-law,
the local county police sergeant, Ole Mustad, was running
the company, he started the company O. Mustad &
Son A.S. together with his son, Hans Mustad, a man of
vision. Having perceived the possibilities of the production
of fish hooks, Hans soon became an expert hook maker,
unmatched by his contemporaries. Well ahead of his time,
especially in terms of sales and marketing, he sent
his staff out into the world to visit other manufacturers,
dealers and local fishermen, and from their feedback,
he charted the markets long before his competitors.
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Revolutionary Fish Hook Machine
The further development of the company, however, would
not have been possible without the young inventor Mathias
Topp. Until he started looking into the problem, fishhooks
had been manufactured by hand, one by one. Shortly after
joining Mustad Mathias Topp invented the first automatic
fishhook machine. Steel wire was fed in at one end and
hooks came out at the other. The invention was truly
a sensation. Today, many of the machines still running
are very similar in concept to the original ones. One
might say that they have passed the test of time and
endurance. |
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Mathias Topp
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Henry Haynes
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Despite Topp's technical wizardry,
when it became clear that local expertise was not
enough, Hans Mustad promptly imported the necessary
know-how. Henry Haynes was the first of many English
craftsmen coming over to work for Mustad, and from
the English the company acquired skills in fly-tying,
metal tempering, grinding and polishing. Hans Mustad's
philosophy was that the company should be self-sufficient
as far as possible. As a result, Mustad trained its
own workers and developed its own marketing methods
- something unheard of in Norway at the time. The
philosophy has been maintained and expanded throughout
the years. Today, many families can trace their employment
with Mustad back over several generations. It all
started with a handful of men in a modest log cabin,
with water-powered machinery. A combination of inspired
leadership, loyal and highly skilled workers and a
sale force that loved to travel, has enhanced Mustad's
world wide leadership position in 144 competitive
national export markets. From a modest little start
it has grown into a large, solid and ever expanding
industrial complex.
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Marketing a Key Concept
During the more than 170 years that Mustad has been in business,
marketing has been a key concept and the company has always
had a talent for adjusting to change. The need for close and
continuous contact with the market forces and superior service
capabilities has prompted the company to establish subsidiaries
in the primary markets. This policy has definitely played
a major part in Mustad's success, since exports represent
more than 90% of total production.
The USA is a major market, and Mustad realized at an early
stage that if it were to maintain its position in this competitive
environment, distribution had to be strengthened. This process
began in the 1950s when Mustad bought out a competitor and
established a subsidiary in Auburn, New York. Through this
company, Mustad has strengthened its position and gained
a larger market share.
In addition to representing Mustad in the Far East, Mustad
Singapore has specialized in labor-intensive operations, producing
a range of articles for sport fishing, including the fishhook.
The Mustad company in the Philippines had made it possible
to expand sales of flies, snelled hooks, jigs, rigs and lures.
This has given the company a broader basis and has enhanced
the penetration of Mustad fish hooks worldwide. Mustad has
also acquired hook-manufacturing plants in Brazil - where
it operates out of Porto Alegre - and Portugal, and has established
fully owned distribution companies in Canada, Brazil, Russia
and South Africa. In 1999 Mustad established a marketing and
distribution center for Latin America based in Miami, and
in 2003 a sales office was established in Cape Town, South
Africa. Its latest international venture is the inauguration
of a new factory in Wuxi, China, which is now in full operation.
After more than 170 years, Mustad is still expanding. It
continues to be a resourceful company able to operate successfully
in an increasingly competitive global environment, always
ready for new challenges both in terms of commercial fisheries
and sport fishing.
The Mustad company celebrates its 175th anniversary in 2007!
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Present owner: Hans Holth Mustad |
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MUSTAD
HISTORY 
Where
and whenever you go fishing there's a good chance that
the fish hooks you are using are made by Mustad. For
more than 100 years, Mustad has been known as the world's
largest manufacturer of fish hooks. 