As if life in the eurozone’s economically embattled periphery werenot bad enough, the coffee culture emblematic of southernEurope is under siege. Italians are having to cut back on theircappuccinos and espressos and Spaniards are dropping theircortados, fuelling a sharp fall in wholesale coffee prices.

　　陷入經濟困境的歐元區似乎日子過得還不夠苦，連咖啡這一南歐的文化象征也受到殃及。意大利人不得不削減卡布奇諾和意式濃咖啡的支出，西班牙人對他們的Cortado咖啡忍痛割愛，導致咖啡批發價大幅下跌。

　　The coffee industry has long seen demand for the drink as constant, but now consumption percapita is down in Italy and Spain to levels last seen five to six years ago, largely because of thesovereign debt crisis.

　　咖啡行業一直認為該飲料具有穩定的需求，但現在意大利和西班牙的人均消費量已經降低到五、六年前的水平，很大程度上是由于主權債務危機。

　　The cost of the high quality arabica coffee in New York, the global benchmark, is down 40 percent from a 34-year high set last year to $1.75 a pound. Arabica prices last year surged to $3.089 a pound after Colombia, the largest producer of high quality beans, had a poor harvestdue to bad weather.

　　作為全球基準的紐約高品質阿拉比卡咖啡價格去年曾創下34年來的最高值，但現已下跌40%，至每磅1.75美元。去年，由于高品質咖啡豆的最大生產國哥倫比亞遭遇惡劣氣候，收成不佳，阿拉比卡咖啡的價格曾飆升至每磅3.089美元。

　　In Italy, Europe’s second-biggest importer of coffee by volume, demand fell last year to 5.68 kilograms per person, the lowest in six years, according to the London-based International CoffeeOrganisation, the group that represents the big producing and consuming countries.

　　代表主要生產國和消費國、位于倫敦的國際咖啡組織(International Coffee Organisation)稱，在咖啡進口量列歐洲第二的意大利，去年的需求降至每人5.68千克，為6年來新低。

　　“The four-year economic downturn is hitting the amount of coffee Italians drink,” said AlessandroPolojac, president of Italy’s industry association Comitato Italiano Caffé and chief executive of theTrieste-based coffee trader Imperator.

　　“4年的經濟低迷影響了意大利人的咖啡飲用量，”意大利咖啡委員會(Comitato Italiano Caffé)主席、的里雅斯特(Trieste)咖啡貿易商Imperator首席執行官亞歷山德羅 波洛賈奇(Alessandro Polojac)表示。

　　The story is strikingly different in less distressed parts of the eurozone. In Germany and France, Europe’s other leading coffee importers, consumption is rising strongly. Spain, however, the fifth-largest European importer and another country hard hit like Italy by the crisis, has seen per capitaconsumption back at 2007 levels.

　　在衰退程度較低的歐元區國家則是另外一副光景。在歐洲的另外兩大咖啡進口國——德國和法國，消費量正在強勁走高。然而，在歐洲第五大咖啡進口國、受危機影響程度與意大利相仿的西班牙，人均消費量已經跌回2007年水平。

　　The impact of the downturn is compounding the negative effect of new technologies, including thesingle-portion coffees such as Nespresso, which cut down on coffee wastage.

　　經濟低迷的影響正加劇新技術（包括單次沖泡的Nespresso）的負面影響，這些技術減少了咖啡浪費。

　　Mediterraneans are drinking more coffee at home, said Max Fabian, chief executive of Demus, anItalian decaffeinated coffee producer. “A lot of consumption was out-of-home which wasexpensive, but people have switched,” he said.

　　意大利脫咖啡因咖啡生產商Demus首席執行官麥克斯 法比安(Max Fabian)表示，地中海居民現在更多的是在家中飲用咖啡。他表示：“以前很多消費都在家外進行，費用昂貴，但人們改變了做法?！?/p>

　　The shift to brewing coffee at home has also prompted consumers to opt for cheaper blends, witha lower content of premium arabica beans. In turn, demand for lower-quality robusta beans, which have a bitter taste, has increased.

　　轉向在家中煮咖啡的做法，還促使消費者選擇更廉價的混合咖啡，其中高品質阿拉比卡咖啡豆的含量較少。因此，市場對質量較低味道較苦的羅布斯塔咖啡豆的需求有所增加。