When Jenn Mason opened the Curds & Co. cheese shop in Brookline Village in 2017, she wanted to bring cheese to the people. Not just in all its gooey, delicious physical forms, but as an accessible culinary concept.
Mason is an entrepreneur to the core. She’s worked as an artist, in publishing at a magazine, and in marketing helping dozens of businesses get their message to clients effectively and beautifully. “I’ve done the same thing everywhere, which is storytelling,” she says. But she always knew she wanted to start her own company. After an eight-month boot camp with the Startup Institute Boston, she began searching for the right kind of company to launch. Mason says, “It was more a search for an industry that needed to be disrupted.” And that industry was cheese.
What captivated Mason about cheese was that there seemed to be no end to what she could learn about the subject. Now she passes that education on to shoppers at Curds & Co. through their easy-to-understand signage, educational classes, and their subscription service Curdbox. “We’ve done a lot of intellectual property work about the types of cheese,” says Mason. “The whole idea is that you can come in here and match things based on a simple sign. We like to say we’re a startup with a cheese center.”
The signs around the shop and the classes work in the same way. They tell shoppers what cheeses have what qualities and what wines, foods, and accouterments they pair best with. Mason distills the wordy, complicated information about cheese into easy to understand bites for the public. For example, one sign refers to “Creamy + Funky” cheeses like Taleggio and Muenster. The scientific name for those cheeses is “Washed Rind.” Mason has made it more accessible, and more appetizing.
Classes, workshops, and events, like company parties, achieve a similar effect. They focus on specific cheeses, or wines, and talk about what cheese pairs best with what beverage and why. There are also blindfolded taste testings and other riotous, cheesy fun. It’s part science, part cooking, and part party.
If you’re not getting enough cheese by just shopping and learning, Mason is more than happy to deliver a monthly dose to your door. For $39.95/month, New England residents (except Mainers, sorry guys) can receive Curdbox. Brookline locals are also welcome to pick up their boxes in the store. Like all of Mason’s work, the box tells a story. The most recent theme was “The Hills Are Alive” featuring alpine cheeses. The box features several kinds of cheese and jams or mustards or honey to go with them, plus information about pairings, wines, and other serving instructions. You can also find a link to a podcast, a playlist and a video related to the box. So you get both a heavy education about alpine cheeses and all the supplies to host a killer wine and cheese night.
Mason plans to separate Curdbox into its own business eventually. Ever the entrepreneur, she’d also like to franchise the store. That said; the original Brookline location will always have a special place in her heart. She says, “I get thanked a lot for opening this store, it’s a great feeling. It’s a place that brings people constant joy.”
