We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Trey Mast a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Trey, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I imagine most small businesses start out as a hobby. Growing started out that way for me. When my family and I were living in Tokyo, I tried (and failed horribly) to grow tomatoes on our small roof in buckets. When we moved to Brooklyn we had a small yard that I tried to grow in (and failed again). When we moved back to Dallas, we had a decent space where I tried growing a few more plants. Then Covid happened. At the time I was a freelance videographer and many of the events I would work were no longer taking place-I had time. Although I did my time baking sourdough, I started really diving deep into gardening.

It wasn’t until 2023 that I had my ah-ha moment. I was doing my shopping at a higher end grocer we have here in Dallas and in the locally grown produce section I noticed the tomatoes were from Mexico. It was fall in Texas which has a great climate for tomatoes-no reason they should be driven that far (and sold as local). This discovery led me to start researching more about our food supply chain and nutritional densities in food. I didn’t know it at the time but the tomatoes I saw would have been picked early and shipped to us which lowers the nutritional content (and flavor) while increasing the carbon footprint from farm to mouth. This is what led me to microgreens.

Microgreens are very high in nutrition and require very little space to grow. I started experimenting growing them in my garage and found that I loved them. After a year of fine tuning how I wanted to grow microgreens, I started Mast Produce Urban Farm. I deliver high nutrition food to hyper local clients lowering the time and distances my food travels from harvest to mouth. Since starting I have also started growing mushrooms and edible flowers to give my clients diversity in their orders.

Trey, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Trey Mast and I am the owner and grower of Mast Produce Urban Farm. Mast Produce’s goal is to deliver the best tasting and most nutritious produce to a hyper local area around the farm with exceptional customer service.
I started growing microgreens as a hobby to add nutrition and elegance to my home cooking and do my little part to combat the ever-worsening food supply chain. Once both my kids were in school full days, I decided to take my growing professionally and start selling to both restaurants and individuals.

As a veteran I used to move around a lot and the most influential place was Japan. I was astonished at the level of customer service that is engrained in the culture. I now take that with me and apply that level of care to my clientele. I want the whole process to be easy and enjoyable for the person spending their money on my produce. Individuals can place their order online any day of the week and I deliver it to their house or work that Friday. I am the one delivering it so I can answer any questions and make absolutely certain that it is exactly what they want.

One of the main reasons Mast Produce was started was because of how far food travels to reach our plates and the environmental concerns that has. Keeping with that mentality, we package our products in bioplastic or cardboard containers that can be recycled but is also compostable. This of courses has an added cost to me but I think is very important and I am still able to offer my products priced for the market.

One of the other things we have done to set ourselves apart in the market is to add mushrooms and edible flowers to our lineup. Alongside our various microgreen selection, we off an array of oyster mushrooms, lion’s mane mushrooms, and an edible flower mix. We will continue to add products to our range as we gather more space to grow in with the long-term plan of farming unused urban land.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I have had a lot of pivot points of my life. After I left the military, I became a technician for a luxury car brand which I excelled at. My wife and I then decided to move back to Japan for her work where I did not have the certifications to be a tech anymore leading me to complete my bachelor’s degree. This is when I fell in love with videography. Once we moved to Brooklyn I started freelancing as a videographer while also being the stay-at-home dad. We then moved back to Dallas and then Covid happened throwing yet another twist in mine (and everyone’s) life. During this time there were no events taking place causing me to eventually close up shop completely. Fast forward a few years (and both kids in school full days) and I started Mast Produce Urban Farm to do my part in changing the how local we could be growing our food.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I am very fortunate to have my kids in the school they go to and have made sure to do what I can for the school community. One of those things is volunteering at the school gardens along with many other people. Through this I have met many like-minded people who have been incredible kind to me and spread the word about our products and goals. This word-of-mouth approach has really helped in the individual order space. When it comes to restaurants and chefs it has really been knocking on doors and giving away samples. I value the chefs time and make it as easy as I can on them while still having a good product at a competitive price.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://MastProduceUrbanFarm.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastproduceurbanfarm/