经济学人112:咖啡之王对决通心粉之霸

 　　Business Starbucks v Kraft A double shot of discord¹

　　商业 星巴克对决卡夫 不合引发连环炮

　　The kings of coffee brawl² with the monarchs³ of macaroni

　　咖啡之王对决通心粉之霸

　　STARBUCKS once seemed so unstoppable that the Onion, a satirical paper, joked about a new Starbucks opening in the restroom of an existing Starbucks.

　　星巴克曾经势不可挡，以至于以嘲讽著称的onion报开玩笑称星巴克的新店会开在老店的厕所内。

　　Yet by January 2008, when Howard Schultz, the coffee chain's most effective boss, returned as chief executive, it was rapidly declining.

　　但是在2008年前，他的业绩款速下降。直至最为卓著的领导人Howard Schultz返回公司担任董事长。

　　Mr Schultz closed stores, shed staff, slimmed the supply chain and arrested Starbucks's slide.

　　Schultz先生关闭门店，裁减雇员，简化供应链。力挽了星巴克的颓势。

　　In fiscal⁴ 2010 the firm's operating margins⁵ rebounded⁶ to 13.8%, the highest in its 40-year history.

　　2010财政年度，星巴克的运营利润率反弹至13.8%，为星巴克40年历史的最高。

　　One of the problems Mr Schultz found, after a review of the business, was in the way Starbucks-brand coffee was sold in supermarkets.

　　重新审视业务之后，Schultz发现其中一个问题-星巴克品牌在超市里售卖。

　　The so-called consumer-packaged goods (CPG) business is handled by Kraft, America's biggest food company, which is best known for having mastered the art of mixing macaroni with cheese.

　　号称快消品业务是由美国最大的食品公司卡夫经营的，卡夫由于其搅拌芝士通心粉而被人熟知。

　　Following an agreement in 1998, Kraft sells, markets and distributes bags of Starbucks coffee.

　　按照1998年达成的协议，卡夫分销袋装星巴克咖啡。

　　Mr Schultz told Kraft he was dissatisfied.

　　Schultz先生告知卡夫他对此感到不满意。

　　Kraft acknowledged the complaint, but, according to Starbucks, failed to act because it was focused on the takeover of Cadbury, a maker⁷ of superior British sweets such as Creme Eggs.

　　卡夫证实了Schultz的抱怨，但是按照星巴克的说法，他之所以不采取行动是由于卡夫把业务重心放在收购吉百利上面，吉百利是英国优质糖果制造商，其代表商品有糖心巧克力。

　　By the spring of last year, both sides realised that their partnership⁸ was broken.

　　去年春天，双方都意识到他们的合作关系已经破裂。

　　Starbucks says it offered Kraft $500m to give back the CPG business.

　　星巴克声称他将出价5亿美元买回其快消业余。

　　As part of the proposed deal, it still wanted to supply capsules for Tassimo, Kraft's single-portion coffee machines.

　　作为意向交易的一部分，星巴克依然使用卡夫的全自动Tassimo咖啡机。

　　Kraft initially⁹ agreed to the buy-out offer, but then changed its mind and demanded another $200m, according to Starbucks.

　　星巴克声称：卡夫同意了此项收购，但是接着就改变了主意并要求追加2亿。

　　Kraft disputes this account.

　　卡夫对否认了此种说法。

　　It claims that Starbucks offered $750m to buy out the business in August. It adds that it rejected the offer. A fair price would be $1.5 billion, Kraft says.

　　卡夫声称星巴在八月克出价7.5亿美元来买下了业务，卡夫补充到其拒绝了此项收购，合适的价格应该为15亿美元。

　　In October Starbucks told Kraft that it was in material breach¹⁰ of their agreement.

　　十月，星巴克告知卡夫他严重违约。

　　Unless the matter was resolved within 30 days, Starbucks said, all their agreements (including the one on Tassimo) would end by March 1st and Kraft would get nothing.

　　除非30日内得到解决，否则所有协议（包括Tassimo咖啡机的协议）最迟将于3月1日作废届时卡夫将一无所获。

　　The alleged¹¹ breaches¹² include Kraft's failure to involve Starbucks in sales planning, to provide detailed¹³ budgets and to obtain approval for advertising¹⁴.

　　所谓的违约包括卡夫未能将星巴克纳入到其销售计划中，未能提供详尽的经费以及未能获得广告推广的批准。

　　Starbucks says Kraft also violated an exclusivity deal by promoting its own premium¹⁵ coffee.

　　星巴克说卡夫还通过推广自己的优质咖啡而违反了了排他协议。

　　Kraft says all these alleged breaches are baseless. It says Starbucks brewed¹⁶ them up to give itself a pretext¹⁷ for grabbing back the best part of its business (its coffee shops are still sluggish) without paying for it.

　　卡夫方面宣称这些所谓的违约时无依据的，星巴克制造了这些说辞来作为重夺优质市场而不花一分钱的借口，星巴克的咖啡店业务进展缓慢。

　　Mr Schultz declared war. In November he announced that Starbucks was ending its relationship with Kraft unilaterally.

　　Schul提起开始仲裁希望改变这种情况。

　　On November 29th Kraft initiated¹⁸ an arbitration¹⁹ proceeding²⁰ to challenge this move. Ignoring the arbitration, Starbucks said a couple of days later that from March onwards it would distribute its packaged coffee through Acosta, a marketing²¹ firm.

　　星巴克方面宣称将不理会仲裁并于数十天后的3月开始通过行销机构Acosta来销售包装咖啡。

　　In 2009 Acosta helped Starbucks to launch Via, a popular brand of instant coffee.

　　2009年Acosta帮助星巴克开创了Via-大受欢迎的速溶咖啡。

　　On December 6th Kraft sought a preliminary injunction against Starbucks in a District Court of New York, for allegedly violating the terms of their agreement.

　　据宣称12月6日卡夫以违反协议条款为理由向纽约地区地区法院申请一项初步禁令，听证会将暂定于于1月27日举行。

　　The hearing of the injunction is tentatively scheduled for January 27th. Kraft says that it played a central role in the success of Starbucks's packaged-coffee business, which grew tenfold during the course of their partnership.

　　卡夫方面称其在星巴克的包装咖啡业务从双方开始合作到现今增长十倍上发挥着核心作用。

　　Starbucks retorts that it could have grown faster if someone else had handled it.

　　星巴克方面则反驳若是其他人经营业务本该增长的更快。

　　Even so, it will be tricky²² to prove material breaches of the agreement, so Starbucks will probably have to pay to end it.

　　即便这样，证明重大违约行为将变得非常棘手，星巴克极有可能以收购了事。

　　Kraft stands to lose not only a lucrative²³ business but also some "category captaincies".

　　卡夫不仅失去了获利颇丰的业务而且部分领军地位。

　　Each large American retailer²⁴ elects a product-category captain who is closely involved in how its sales are managed.

　　每个美国大型零售商都会选择一家积极处理与之相关业务的领军企业。

　　Kraft is category captain in more than 60% of the supermarkets in which it distributes coffee. Acosta will soon be vying²⁵ for this profitable honour.

　　卡夫占据了超市咖啡分销市场60%以上的份额，Acosta也将紧盯这快大肥肉。

1 discord   

n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐

参考例句：

• These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。
• The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。

2 brawl   

n.大声争吵，喧嚷；v.吵架，对骂

参考例句：

• They had nothing better to do than brawl in the street.他们除了在街上斗殴做不出什么好事。
• I don't want to see our two neighbours engaged in a brawl.我不希望我们两家吵架吵得不可开交。

3 monarchs   

君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Monarchs ruled England for centuries. 世袭君主统治英格兰有许多世纪。
• Serving six monarchs of his native Great Britain, he has served all men's freedom and dignity. 他在大不列颠本国为六位君王服务，也为全人类的自由和尊严服务。 来自演讲部分

4 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

5 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

6 rebounded   

弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 )； 反弹； 产生反作用； 未能奏效

参考例句：

• The ball rebounded from the goalpost and Owen headed it in. 球从门柱弹回，欧文头球将球攻进。
• The ball rebounded from his racket into the net. 球从他的球拍上弹回网中。

7 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

8 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

9 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

10 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

11 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

12 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

13 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

14 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

15 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

16 brewed   

调制( brew的过去式和过去分词 )； 酝酿； 沏（茶）； 煮（咖啡）

参考例句：

• The beer is brewed in the Czech Republic. 这种啤酒是在捷克共和国酿造的。
• The boy brewed a cup of coffee for his mother. 这男孩给他妈妈冲了一杯咖啡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

18 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

19 arbitration   

n.调停，仲裁

参考例句：

• The wage disagreement is under arbitration.工资纠纷正在仲裁中。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding.双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

20 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

21 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

22 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

23 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

24 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

25 vying   

adj.竞争的；比赛的

参考例句：

• California is vying with other states to capture a piece of the growing communications market.为了在日渐扩大的通讯市场分得一杯羹，加利福尼亚正在和其他州展开竞争。
• Four rescue plans are vying to save the zoo.4个拯救动物园的方案正争得不可开交。