Aptitum Akademi Saxå Bruk

A HOME FOR SWEDISH GASTRONOMY

Carl Jan Granqvist is the founder of the recently established foundation Aptitum Akademi Saxå Bruk. The foundation is to highlight food as an aesthetic experience with the focus on pleasure, in the hope that this will develop enterprises associated with food, hospitality and tourism.

You describe Aptitum Akademi as ‘a home for Swedish gastronomy’. Why is it needed?

Aptitum Akademi will become a physical home for those interested in food as an aesthetic experience, with the focus on pleasure. It is largely about bringing together, educating and developing Swedish businesses. By working with six areas of business which have gastronomy as a common feature, Aptitum Akademi will help to inspire and improve skills in many sectors: agriculture, the food industry, grocery retail, tourism and those working in hospitality and lodging. This extends right through to professionals in these sectors and private individuals who want to develop their gastronomic skills.

Saxå Bruk is situated close to the School of Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Food Science on the Grythyttan Campus, which provides academic courses. The Grythyttan Campus is a centre for foundation education and research, and has built up one of the world’s foremost gastronomic libraries. Aptitum Akademi is not a competing institution, but will rather develop knowledge and skills that open up greater opportunities for the industry. As I said, we’re going to highlight food as an aesthetic experience with the focus on pleasure.

Isn’t Sweden pretty good at gastronomy already?

Absolutely! We have 19 restaurants in the Michelin Guide, for example. But in Denmark – where the population is only half that of Sweden – there are 27.

Why do you think that is?

There are a number of reasons. We have a collective tradition here that is based on science and technology, with strict standards as to what we are and are not allowed to do. Our entire relationship with food is characterised by the fact that Sweden is situated in a climate zone where traditionally we have to stock up supplies to survive the winter. That has brought with it a norm: a moral framework that determines what we are allowed to eat, how we may enjoy it and what it must cost. We are supposed to eat up and be grateful. Whenever we eat something delicious it’s associated with a certain amount of guilt. And this legacy has influenced developments in gastronomy.

Sweden has orientated itself towards producing volume rather than excellence, even though we have a unique platform for producing fantastic foods. We have plenty of precipitation and, thanks to the ice sheet, the world’s youngest soils. We also have midnight sun that gives us more hours of sunlight than Bordeaux. Finally, we can thank the Gulf Stream for the fact that we do not have an Arctic climate.

In the Latin world food has an obvious status: it’s an art that is practised daily. Just like literature, visual art and music, gastronomy is a natural part of the culture.

Is it possible to make gastronomy an art form here in Sweden too?

Yes, and that’s why Aptitum Akademi is needed. The foundation focuses on six areas of Swedish business that have a link with gastronomy.

The first is agriculture – our primary produce has to be good.

Number two is the food industry. Sweden is actually the best place in the world in which to grow

Aptitum Akademi will develop Sweden’s gastronomic expertise.

food, but almost nobody in Sweden knows it. But the Swedish food industry can make many more top products, not just bulk goods.

The third element is grocery retail. If we can help and inspire those working in grocery retail through education, they can become better at helping their customers – such as young people who want to make non-alcoholic carbonated drinks from fresh vegetables.

The fourth is the tourism industry, which is my own background.

The fifth sector is hospitality and lodging. The foundation wants to build up more in-depth education in this area, with master’s degrees for those working in the restaurant industry and in lodging. If they learn, as in many other countries, to make our food culture into an artistic experience, hospitality will be more interesting and more valuable.

The sixth element is the public – people who enjoy gastronomy. Aptitum Akademi will be there for them too, so that they can take courses in making fantastic sauces, in baking and other things.

These are the six areas that the foundation is to develop through education. Not academic activities, but rather an attempt to provide deeper knowledge that reinforces these sectors.

So there is a clear link between gastronomy and the economy?

Yes, because gastronomy is a cultural experience. Today people value experiences more than material things. The majority of Europe’s GDP now comes from experiences associated with culture. Swedish gastronomy is a global success, a phenomenon. Before the pandemic Sweden earned over SEK 100 billion from people who came here to experience it. That’s more than forestry exports. Politicians need to have a better understanding of that. We need to evangelise so that they realise how important gastronomy actually is.

In recent times there has been a great focus on the link between food and health. What’s your view on that?

At the moment more than 80 books on food and health are published every month. But a ‘delicious meal’ is not just about a good or bad diet. Sweden has been affected by this concentration on nutrition. There is extensive research on the gut’s ability to digest carbohydrates, fats and proteins. But why isn’t anyone talking about food that makes you happy and feel good? We need research into nutrition, but Aptitum centres on food as an art form, an experience.

What does the donation from the Erling-Persson Foundation mean to Aptitum Akademi?

It is essential in enabling the foundation to get under way and to plan for sufficient activities. Aptitum Akademi is starting by taking over the property Saxå Bruk, which consists of 200 hectares of land and 13 buildings. We are setting up an office and employing a curator, an administrative assistant and a managing director. The foundation will also have three advisory boards linked to it: a European board, a Nordic board and a Swedish one. These will play an important part in the creation of courses focusing on gastronomy that are designed for Swedish businesses. In early summer tourism activities will start and course activities will start in the autumn.

100

Before the pandemic Sweden earned over SEK 100 billion from people who came here to experience the country’s gastronomy. That’s more than forestry exports.

19

The number of restaurants in Sweden included in the Michelin Guide, but there is potential for more.

3

The number of advisory boards that the foundation Aptitum Akademi Saxå Bruk will work with: one board each for European, Nordic and Swedish gastronomy.

ABOUT THE PROJECT Recipient: Aptitum Akademi Saxå Bruk, an independent foundation aimed at promoting and developing Swedish gastronomy as an art form.

Title: ‘A home for Swedish gastronomy’.

What it involves: Turning Saxå Bruk into a meetingplace where creative people within gastronomy can get together, be educated, and get ideas and energy.

Funding: The Erling-Persson Foundation is supporting the project with a total of SEK 25 million over six years.