IN PERSON


Going beyond expectations


From deep diving to a dream kitchen, Anders Westerholm has made a career out of pushing the boundaries. Jeremy Clark looks at how his versatility and multi-tasking has paid off


When you engage into conversation with Anders Westerholm you’re first struck by the versatility of the guy. As a Swede he unsurprisingly comes


armed with that ironic sense of humour that seems to be in the Swedish DNA, but when you find out a little more you wonder how on earth he chose the path he did. Or did it choose him? His mottos for life are “I can play golf, but


I don’t,” which illustrates his sense of irony, and “Always deliver beyond expectations,” a creed that has clearly served him well. Anders was a 21-year-old diver with the


Swedish Navy when he first found himself multi-tasking by working the galley when not plunging under Russian submarines and rescuing sunken ships from the past. It was here he discovered his passion for food preparation and delivering quality. After his stint in the Navy and whilst


at university he continued working in kitchens until his big break came when he joined SAS’s inflight development team and in 1995 became head of inflight. Working under Jan Carlzon the team he headed re-invented SAS's service, winning the overall Mercury Award in 1998 for Best Inflight Service. “Jan was my inspiration – we were young and he gave us energy, too big a budget, too much responsibility and too high a target. But we did it," he says. It was also an insight into the world of


airline hospitality at a time when service and delivering beyond expectations was the goal of most major carriers.


Out on his own After eight years, Anders left the job to break out on his own working across the industry, including for Gate Gourmet.


Left: Time to dine in Ander's dream kitchen Right: His Navy days WWW.ONBOARDHOSPITALITY.COM 65


Ander Westerholm began his career as a diver in the Swedish Navy, played a leading role in the SAS's drive for quality and pioneered new ideas and concepts in feeding hungry hoards in awkward places. His drive and determination have established him as a catering force to be reckoned with – which is currently channelled through his Swedish Gourmet Academy


expeditions. Developments included high- quality freeze-dried meals (pasta carbonara was one of the most popular). The business built to over 60 outlets and was sold to Finnish company Fazer. Today he consults via his 'Svenska


Gournetakademien' (Swedish Gourmet Academy) and has a range of food products.


Dream kitchen Success allowed Anders to indulge in a 'dream kitchen' in his home in Sweden. “Some guys dream of the ultimate in


power tools, for me it was my Italian-built kitchen," he says. It is an amazing place, so much so that people will pay to use it! Looking back Anders recalls the camaraderie and glamour of the past and says: “The shine has gone, but slowly it might just be coming back”. The airline hospitality business has been


In 2006 he started his own contract


catering operation developing and delivering ready-to-eat meals for the military. New ideas and concepts on how to feed people in inaccessible and challenging places led to a business providing meals for Himalayan and Polar


through bleak times since the turn of the 21st century but there are now signs that service, and the delivery of it, is featuring larger in the race for airline hospitality attention by long-haul, short-haul, low- cost and legacy carriers. For “foodies” like Anders and those tasked with exceeding expectations, that can only be a good thing.


"Some guys dream of the ultimate in power tools, for me it was my Italian-built kitchen!"


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