Stargazer Cast Iron

Stargazer is the clearest first-mark case in this category, and the least ambiguous supply chain we have looked at outside of socks. Iron is domestically sourced and largely recycled; castings are poured to Stargazer’s own patterns by foundries in Wisconsin and Ohio; machining, hand-finishing, seasoning and packing all happen in Allentown, Pennsylvania, down to a box made a couple of miles from the factory.

Two details are worth carrying forward. “Our foundry” on the brand’s site means foundries Stargazer contracts and controls the tooling for, not ones it owns — a distinction that matters if the relationship ever changes, though not one that affects the mark today. And the candidate list had this brand in Bethlehem, PA; it is in Allentown, confirmed by the company’s own site, by PA Eats, and by a Lehigh Valley news photographer standing inside the building. The list has been corrected.