2021年经济学人 黎巴嫩的特级初榨橄榄油（在线收听）

Middle East & Africa

中东和非洲板块

Lebanon

黎巴嫩

Extra-virgin territory

特级初榨的疆土

The global ambitions of Lebanon's hard-pressed olive-oil producers

黎巴嫩处境艰难的橄榄油生产商的全球野心

It began with a case of homesickness.

它始于一种思乡之情。

Ibrahim El Kaakour missed his family's olive groves in Baasir, so four years ago he gave up his engineering career abroad and returned to Lebanon.

Ibrahim El Kaakour想念他家在Baasir的橄榄园，所以四年前他放弃了在国外的工程生涯，回到了黎巴嫩。

At the time farming was just a hobby for his family.

当时农业只是他们家的业余爱好，

But Mr Kaakour had a goal, to reinvigorate the groves—and Lebanon's longdormant olive-oil industry, which traces its roots all the way back to the Phoenicians.

不过凯库先生有一个目标，那就是重振橄榄园和黎巴嫩长期休眠的橄榄油产业，而其根源可以追溯到腓尼基人。

He launched Genco Olive Oil, named after Vito Corleone's front company in "The Godfather".

他推出了“Genco橄榄油”，这是以《教父》中维多·柯里昂的挂名公司命名的。

Mr Kaakour is not alone. A short drive from Baasir lives Walid Mushantaf, who converted wheat fields into olive groves in 2010.

Kaakour先生并不孤单。Walid Mushantaf就住在离Baasir不远的地方，2010年，他把麦田变成了橄榄园。

Now the company he co-owns, Bustan El Zeitoun, grows Italian olive varieties (among others).

现在，他和别人共同拥有的Bustan El Zeitoun公司种植意大利橄榄品种(以及其他品种)。

Deeper in Lebanon's mountains, Rose Bechara Perini grows the local souri variety on her extended family's land.

在黎巴嫩山区的深处，罗斯·贝沙拉·佩里尼在她那大家庭的土地上种植当地的苏里郡品种的橄榄树。

She calls Deir Mimas, her picturesque home town, the Bordeaux of olive oil.

她把她那风景如画的家乡Deir Mimas称为橄榄油的波尔多。

They all face the same challenge.

他们都面临着同样的挑战。

Though olive oil was once a key ingredient in Lebanese cuisine, today locals don't use it much.

虽然橄榄油曾是黎巴嫩菜的主要烹饪原料，但如今当地人并不常用。

They prefer imported vegetable oil, which until recently was quite cheap thanks to the overvalued Lebanese pound.

他们更喜欢进口植物油，直到最近，由于黎巴嫩镑被高估，进口植物油还相当便宜。

Meanwhile, the smallholder farmers who grow most of the country's olives have let the quality of their product slip.

与此同时，种植该国大部分橄榄的小农们却让他们的产品质量下滑。

The upshot is that the average Lebanese consumes 1.6kg of olive oil each year, a tenth of what the average Spaniard consumes.

结果是，黎巴嫩人平均每年只消费1.6公斤橄榄油，是西班牙人平均消费的十分之一。

Lebanon's long-running financial and economic crisis compounds the challenge.

黎巴嫩长期的金融和经济危机加剧了这一挑战。

The country produces little, so nearly everything, from bottles to fertiliser, must be imported using dollars.

这个国家生产的东西很少，所以几乎所有的东西，从瓶子到化肥，都必须用美元进口。

As the Lebanese pound plunged in value, prices rose and dollars became scarce.

随着黎巴嫩镑贬值，价格上涨，美元变得稀缺。

There is also a shortage of fuel, which will be needed to run the olive presses once the annual harvest starts in September.

此外，一旦每年9月开始收获，就需要用燃料来运转橄榄榨汁机。但燃料也短缺。

And then there is the pandemic, which has ravaged restaurants, big buyers of extra-virgin olive oils.

然后是新冠疫情破坏了特级初榨橄榄油的大买家：餐馆。

The drop in the pound has made imported vegetable oil costlier, which should help growers like Mr Kaakour.

英镑贬值使得进口植物油更加昂贵，这将有助于像Kaakour先生这样的种植者。

But he has his sights set on the international market.

但他将目光投向了国际市场。

He wants to export high-end, extra-virgin olive oil, using olives from all over the country.

他想出口高端的特级初榨橄榄油，使用来自全国各地的橄榄。

Lebanese wine is a model. Before the 1970s, not much was exported.

黎巴嫩葡萄酒就是一个典范。20世纪70年代之前，葡萄酒出口并不多。

Then, during the civil war, Serge Hochar of Chateau Musar in Ghazir, near Beirut, started blending reds and selling them abroad.

然后，在内战期间，贝鲁特附近的加齐尔穆萨酒庄的塞尔日·霍查开始调制红葡萄酒，并将其销往海外。

The brand took off after winning acclaim at the Bristol Wine Fair in 1979.

该品牌在1979年布里斯托尔葡萄酒博览会上赢得好评后开始腾飞。

Today about half of Lebanon's wine is exported.

如今，黎巴嫩约有一半的葡萄酒用于出口。

Its olive-oil producers also believe they can compete with foreign heavy-weights, such as Spain and Italy, in terms of quality, if not scale.

中国的橄榄油生产商也相信，即使规模不够，他们也能在质量上与西班牙和意大利等外国巨头竞争。

The labels of Mr Kaakour, Mr Mushantaf and Ms Bechara Perini have won awards in international competitions.

Kaakour先生、Mushantaf先生和Bechara Perini女士的商标在国际比赛中获了奖。

The founder of one of those competitions, Antonio Giuseppe Lauro, believes the Lebanese product is improving.

其中一项比赛的创始人Antonio Giuseppe Lauro相信黎巴嫩的产品正在改进。

Mr Kaakour hopes to make him and others an oil they can't refuse.

Kaakour先生希望能够为他和他人提供一种他们无法拒绝的(食用)油。