Apple juice instead of ice hockey: This is how Andy Bernard is planning his future

Andreas Bernard is currently doing what he likes most: preventing a hard rubber disk that weighs 170 grams and travels up to 170 km/h from hitting the goal. After his short-term stint at HC Bozen, the goalie is currently playing in Sweden's second highest ice hockey league. At the same time, he takes care of fruit and vegetable waste from a supermarket in his adopted home of Finland. They should secure him a second source of income and later a permanent job away from the ice.

Andreas Bernard in the jersey of his new club Väsby IK © Instagram

Andreas Bernard is no ordinary ice hockey professional. Not because he can cliché himself as a goalkeeper and belong to his own people, but rather because he is more reflective and calmer than some other skid crackers. Bernard is someone who thinks outside the box, pardon the ice hockey team. “I am interested in new technologies, sustainability and human consciousness,” said the Kalterer native, whom we met for an interview the day before his departure from Bolzano.

He wanted to use the conversation to talk about his latest project. Bernard has been an entrepreneur since December. “Independence, this freedom has always been my goal,” said the 30-year-old, who was finally moved to action by the corona pandemic. While his advisors were looking for new clubs, “I had a lot of time to think. I explored various options and also conducted a job interview in Helsinki. In the end it all happened by chance.” The idea came about during recreational ice hockey While playing recreational ice hockey in the Finnish province, a teammate asked him about the company he had recently founded. This takes waste products from a supermarket chain, processes them and puts them back on the store shelves with a small profit margin. “It works like this,” explains Bernard, “instead of having to waste time and money on vegetables and fruit that would still be edible in another way, the products are taken from the supermarket when the store closes, processed into jams, juices or spreads and then in the store offered for sale again.” The father of two, who has lived in the far south-east of Finland for years, was thrilled by this process. So enthusiastic, in fact, that just a few months after talking to his ice hockey friend, he bought a share in the company and went into business. “I grew up in Kaltern, so I know something about fruit” In addition to Bernard, his partners Teemu and Juuso also work in the company. Together they purchased a small hall in an industrial park in the Lappeenranta region, just a few kilometers from the Finnish-Russian border. There, Bernard primarily acts as a product manager, especially since he already has background knowledge in this area. “I grew up in Kaltern surrounded by apple trees, so I know something about fruit,” laughs Bernard. “No, seriously: Even as a child, I followed the production of apple juice on the farm with interest. My partners were initially completely amazed when I was able to show them my knowledge.”

The store shelves in the small Thrsty shop.

The Überetscher is now also trying out other products: he is designing new juices, working on his own mostarda creation and collecting ideas on how other waste products such as coffee could be processed. “I am glad that Teemu and Juuso are fully behind me and my family also supports the project. “It just gives me so much joy,” enthuses Bernard, who is also working on opening up new markets for the company with his English skills. “Of course we still want to grow,” if possible even into his South Tyrolean homeland. “At home there is still a lot to be done in terms of sustainability and environmental awareness, and the Scandinavians are big steps ahead. But for this to happen, Italy would have to adapt the laws; at the moment our idea cannot get through.” Ice hockey is (still) priority Bernard used the time during his five-week stint at HC Bozen to collect new ideas at home and get a few pieces of advice. Weeks later he also told us in a telephone conversation: “Ice hockey still has absolute priority at the moment!” First in Bolzano and now at his new club in Upplands Väsby, near Stockholm, he is a bit outside of the day-to-day business at Thrsty anyway.

In Sweden's second league, Bernard proves that he can effortlessly juggle both the job of a professional ice hockey player and that of an entrepreneur. There he was able to build on the strong performances from his HCB time and significantly stabilize second-to-bottom Väsby IK, which had the most porous defense in the league before Bernard's arrival. “I'm very happy with how things are going at the moment. But I'm not satisfied with that. I want to climb up the table with Väsby and then play a good World Cup with Italy.” In the summer, Bernard will be all about Thrsty and his passion for his new project away from the ice.

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Apple juice instead of ice hockey: This is how Andy Bernard is planning his future

Italy's best ice hockey goalkeeper had a lot of time to think in the Corona year 2020, a lot of time. The months-long search for an employer finally led him to become self-employed. The Kalterer has recently become a young entrepreneur.

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