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Middle East & Africa
中東和非洲板塊
Lebanon
黎巴嫩
Extra-virgin territory
特級初榨的疆土
The global ambitions of Lebanon's hard-pressed olive-oil producers
黎巴嫩處境艱難的橄欖油生產商的全球野心
It began with a case of homesickness.
它始于一種思鄉之情。
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的橄欖園，所以四年前他放棄了在國外的工程生涯，回到了黎巴嫩。
At the time farming was just a hobby for his family.
當時農業只是他們家的業余愛好，
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.
不過凱庫先生有一個目標，那就是重振橄欖園和黎巴嫩長期休眠的橄欖油產業，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橄欖油”，這是以《教父》中維多·柯里昂的掛名公司命名的。
Mr Kaakour is not alone. A short drive from Baasir lives Walid Mushantaf, who converted wheat fields into olive groves in 2010.
Kaakour先生并不孤單。Walid Mushantaf就住在離Baasir不遠的地方，2010年，他把麥田變成了橄欖園。
Now the company he co-owns, Bustan El Zeitoun, grows Italian olive varieties (among others).
現在，他和別人共同擁有的Bustan El Zeitoun公司種植意大利橄欖品種(以及其他品種)。
Deeper in Lebanon's mountains, Rose Bechara Perini grows the local souri variety on her extended family's land.
在黎巴嫩山區的深處，羅斯·貝沙拉·佩里尼在她那大家庭的土地上種植當地的蘇里郡品種的橄欖樹。
She calls Deir Mimas, her picturesque home town, the Bordeaux of olive oil.
她把她那風景如畫的家鄉Deir Mimas稱為橄欖油的波爾多。
They all face the same challenge.
他們都面臨著同樣的挑戰。
Though olive oil was once a key ingredient in Lebanese cuisine, today locals don't use it much.
雖然橄欖油曾是黎巴嫩菜的主要烹飪原料，但如今當地人并不常用。
They prefer imported vegetable oil, which until recently was quite cheap thanks to the overvalued Lebanese pound.
他們更喜歡進口植物油，直到最近，由于黎巴嫩鎊被高估，進口植物油還相當便宜。
Meanwhile, the smallholder farmers who grow most of the country's olives have let the quality of their product slip.
與此同時，種植該國大部分橄欖的小農們卻讓他們的產品質量下滑。
The upshot is that the average Lebanese consumes 1.6kg of olive oil each year, a tenth of what the average Spaniard consumes.
結果是，黎巴嫩人平均每年只消費1.6公斤橄欖油，是西班牙人平均消費的十分之一。
Lebanon's long-running financial and economic crisis compounds the challenge.
黎巴嫩長期的金融和經濟危機加劇了這一挑戰。
The country produces little, so nearly everything, from bottles to fertiliser, must be imported using dollars.
這個國家生產的東西很少，所以幾乎所有的東西，從瓶子到化肥，都必須用美元進口。
As the Lebanese pound plunged in value, prices rose and dollars became scarce.
隨著黎巴嫩鎊貶值，價格上漲，美元變得稀缺。
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月開始收獲，就需要用燃料來運轉橄欖榨汁機。但燃料也短缺。
And then there is the pandemic, which has ravaged restaurants, big buyers of extra-virgin olive oils.
然后是新冠疫情破壞了特級初榨橄欖油的大買家：餐館。
The drop in the pound has made imported vegetable oil costlier, which should help growers like Mr Kaakour.
英鎊貶值使得進口植物油更加昂貴，這將有助于像Kaakour先生這樣的種植者。
But he has his sights set on the international market.
但他將目光投向了國際市場。
He wants to export high-end, extra-virgin olive oil, using olives from all over the country.
他想出口高端的特級初榨橄欖油，使用來自全國各地的橄欖。
Lebanese wine is a model. Before the 1970s, not much was exported.
黎巴嫩葡萄酒就是一個典范。20世紀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，在內戰期間，貝魯特附近的加齊爾穆薩酒莊的塞爾日·霍查開始調制紅葡萄酒，并將其銷往海外。
The brand took off after winning acclaim at the Bristol Wine Fair in 1979.
該品牌在1979年布里斯托爾葡萄酒博覽會上贏得好評后開始騰飛。
Today about half of Lebanon's wine is exported.
如今，黎巴嫩約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.
中國的橄欖油生產商也相信，即使規模不夠，他們也能在質量上與西班牙和意大利等外國巨頭競爭。
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女士的商標在國際比賽中獲了獎。
The founder of one of those competitions, Antonio Giuseppe Lauro, believes the Lebanese product is improving.
其中一項比賽的創始人Antonio Giuseppe Lauro相信黎巴嫩的產品正在改進。
Mr Kaakour hopes to make him and others an oil they can't refuse.
Kaakour先生希望能夠為他和他人提供一種他們無法拒絕的(食用)油。
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