Mustad Fishing (O. Mustad & Søn A.S.) is a Norwegian company that manufactures and sells fishing tackle and accessories since 1877. The Mustad product range includes fish hooks, multifilament and monofilament fishing lines, fishing lures, fishing flies, fly hooks, terminal tackle and fishing apparel. The corporate headquarters are in Gjøvik, Norway.
Mustad Fishing Today
Mustad has expanded from their core business of manufacturing hooks and terminal tackle to a varied range of other fishing accessories.
Sales offices have been established in Miami, FL (USA), Singapore and Wuxi (China), and has production facilities in Norway, China, Singapore, Portugal, and Malaysia. Mustad's products are present in more than 160 countries.
The company was run by the 6th generation Mustad until the end of 2011, when Mustad was sold to the Norwegian-based investment company, NLI Utvikling (now ARD Group AS). In 2017, a majority of shares were then sold to Verdane Capital, another investment company.
History
Mustad can trace its roots back to 1832 in Vardal. Hans Schikkelstad (1789–1843), a farmer, established the factory "Brusveen Spiger- og Staltradfabrikk" for the production of nails, steel wire and various metal products. Later, Skikkelstad's son-in-law Ole Hovelsen Mustad (1810–84), took over the company with his son Hans Mustad (1837–1918) and changed its name to "O. Mustad" and later "O. Mustad & Søn". The company was headquartered in the small village of Gjøvik (Norway), an area with poor infrastructures where transportation was an obstacle to most type of supplies.
Growing to other markets
In spite of the negative conditions and the pessimistic visions of the Norwegian Department of Interior ("The difficulty in competing with foreign factories means that industry will never succeed in this country"), by 1860 Ole Mustad led his company to a primary position in the production of small metal products like fencing wire, nails, pins, fish hooks, horseshoe nails, shipbuilding nails, paper clips, thumb tacks and a series of other metallic wire-based products.
Over the years, Mustad was a crucial part of Gjøvik and the region as a large number of the population was involved with the company and its many products. In addition to products made of metal wire, Mustad tested the waters of many other markets. Ovens and waffle presses were in production for many years and are still found today. For over 100 years, Mustad also competed in the butter industry in Norway.
Finding focus
A key to the company's success was the efforts made by Mathias Topp, a carpenter turned inventor who designed and created a machine to create hooks automatically and quickly. His first successful machine produced hooks efficiently and quicker than ever before. Feeding wire into the machine led to a cut, bent, barbed, and pointed hook. Knowing the importance of this invention to the company, Topp and the Mustad family worked to keep the secret by, instead of ordering a patent, restricting workers from getting near the machines and signing non-disclosure agreements. By refining and industrializing the manual production of fish hooks in 1877, the company managed to become a global market leader in just a few years.
The Core of Gjøvik
The growth and successes of the 1870s were followed by recession, mirroring the overall European crisis. The stagnation of the building activities resulted in a decreasing demand for nails. Hans Mustad, who had taken the management over, experienced a very critical time which brought him to the suspension of all payments in 1879. Fear took hold of creditors and employees, as so many other companies had gone bankrupt in the same period. Employees continued working without payment for 2 years. They received "Mustad banknotes" instead: the notes acted as written acknowledgments from Mustad and were accepted by shops in Gjøvik. The whole debt including interests was paid back by July 1882 and all creditors got their check. Since then, the company assumed wider responsibilities over employees and their families: children were provided schools and several recreational and welfare activities were offered. Hans Mustad's social disposition attracted attention of the press that started visiting the factory premises and its schools, band, choir, library and shop.