Celebrating 100 Years by Helping Others
2023 makes us 100 years young! To celebrate this milestone, our company has partnered with two organizations whose mission is to help people start or expand their own small businesses.
SCORE offers FREE business training, mentoring and educational resources to help individuals start and grow their small business. Learn more.
The Women’s Business Development Council is dedicated to providing the tools and resources to help women launch and scale their business. Learn more.
Many people have helped us along the way. It is an honor that we can now help others who have the imagination, grit and bravery to start their own business.
History
Our name honors our founder, Mr. Andre Prost, born in New York City to French parents in 1884. By 1916 Mr. Prost had worked his way up to a sales position for Cuisinier, a producer of fine liqueurs.
With the outbreak of World War I, Mr. Prost went to France, his parent’s homeland, to volunteer as a stretcher carrier and ambulance driver for the Red Cross.
Returning from the horrors of WW I in late 1920, he found his job as a liqueur salesman had disappeared due to Prohibition’s banning of alcohol. He and a boyhood friend formed their own company in 1923, Prost & Callahan, on 23rd Street in New York City. The company sold “New Era Beverages,” non-alcoholic fruit syrups imported from France, which by mere coincidence could be used as flavorings for bootleg liquor. Prohibition or not, after-dinner drinks were still being served in many places, thanks to Prost & Callahan.
Prohibition had first left Mr. Prost without his early sales job, and now the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 threatened to destroy the company. Mr. Callahan left the company. Andre Prost, who had always believed in the health benefits of honey, decided to focus his company on the selling of honey-related products. The Andre Prost Co. was born with the motto “Honey From Here There and Everywhere.” Five hundred kinds of honey from the world over, as well as gourmet foods (mostly French) were distributed in the northeast United States. Products from G. B. Ambrosoli in Como, Italy and Odense Marcipanfabrik, from Odense, Denmark became part of this mix in the 1930s, as they still are today.
In the ensuing years more brands were developed. From Ambrosoli came Honees and Zotz Candies, and Odense Marcipanfabrik brought Almond Paste and Marzipan rolls. From the kitchens of Andre Prost, Inc. came A Taste of Thai, A Taste of China, A Taste of India, Andre Prost Coconut Milk and Andre Prost Rice Pasta. Today, Andre Prost, Inc. products are found throughout the United States, Canada and other countries.
Hopefully Mr. Prost would be proud.
