Andreas Galliker
Vice President - Business Development

Executive Pastry Chef

Trained as a professional pastry chef in his native Switzerland, Andreas Galliker is the company’s key contact for innovations and business development, responsible for sales and productivity of corporate accounts located throughout the United States..

The culinary world has always been of utmost important to Andreas. Growing up in beautiful Lugano, the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, he gained inspiration from his parents' thriving hotel business. As a youngster, he loved to help his father, a talented pastry chef, create tempting and artistic desserts. After a three-year apprenticeship and four months of basic training in the Swiss Army, Andreas went to work in German-speaking Zürich-first, at the now-defunct Confiserie Hefti: an old-fashioned confectioner that made everything from scratch. He then went on to the legendary Confiserie Sprüngli where he headed up the department for cakes and pastries. During his vacations, he took classes at Richemont, the renowned pastry and baking school in Lucerne.

It was in Zürich that he met Albert Uster, chairman of Albert Uster Imports. The two hit it off immediately and, in 1991, Andreas came to work for Mr. Uster in the United States as his research and development chef. He began his work by running workshops and doing demonstrations, offering technical advice to customers, developing recipes, testing products and attending trade shows. He became intimately involved in the production of catalogs and flyers. Yet, as Andreas immersed himself in his new position, his focus shifted.

Andreas aggressively pursued the industrial market, particularly bakeries, with a full line of Swiss-made bread mixes and sour dough starters. "I sell solutions," he states. "I not only sell a product or a piece of machinery. I resolve manufacturing problems for my customers." He went on site and ran tests, worked with the suppliers to get exactly what the customers needed, and was never until all of their problems were addressed.

Years later, as a corporate account manager, Andreas was responsible for taking care of small industrial-type businesses, a market that he had developed for several years. This included large confectionery shops and bakeries, supermarket chains, praline manufacturers, or, in short, anybody who bought by the pallet or truckload. He was also in charge of all exports, primarily to Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands. In addition, he oversaw a new line of mousse mixes, which, for the first time, gave the company an opportunity to customize products.

In 2004, Andreas was promoted to national sales manager. He was able to utilize his technical and artistic experiences as a chef, as well as his many years of working one-on-one with customers, to share his experience and knowledge with Albert Uster Imports’ sales representatives.

Andreas is also proud of his affiliation with members of the Resort Food Executive Committee, an organization that represents an elite group of chefs associated with four- and five-star resorts throughout the country. It is a group that offers him inspiration and insight into the constantly changing culinary trends and needs.

In 2007, Andreas assumed a new position, the one of an innovator and business developer with Albert Uster Imports, combining his culinary expertise with his sales experience.

Although he travels extensively professionally, Andreas still greatly enjoys traveling with his family, trying out the latest culinary restaurants, and always enjoys his vast wine collection.