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Business
商業(yè)報(bào)道
Starbucks
星巴克
Just add water
加水即成
The ailing giant turns to instant coffee for a pick-me-up
虧損巨頭靠速溶咖啡來提神
NO ONE can accuse Howard Schultz of inaction since he returned as chief executive of Starbucks,
沒有人可以指責(zé)重回星巴克的首席執(zhí)行官霍華德·舒爾茨的無所作為，
the firm he built into a multinational only to watch it stumble under his successor.
他只是沒想到看著他一手建起的跨國公司絆倒在他的繼任者腳下。
Barely a month has gone by over the past year without the firm announcing some new initiative or other.
在過去的一年公司沒有公布任何新的咖啡飲料，僅僅不到一個月，
The latest came on February 17th in New York, when Mr Schultz unveiled Via, an instant coffee which, he claims,
2月17日在紐約，舒爾茨先生推出Via，一種速溶咖啡，他聲稱，
tastes just as good as Java brewed in the shop by one of the firm's baristas.
其味道和星巴克咖啡大師在店里調(diào)配的Java一樣香醇。
Mr Schultz hopes to win a share of the $17 billion or so the world spends on instant coffee—a product which, he sniffs, has not improved in decades.
舒爾茨先生希望贏得全球花在速溶咖啡約170億美元上的一點(diǎn)份額—速溶咖啡，他嗤之以鼻地說，在過去的幾十年里一點(diǎn)兒沒改進(jìn)。
Starbucks itself has spent 20 years pursuing the holy grail of an instant coffee that tastes as good as the fresh stuff.
星巴克用了20年所追求的圣杯速溶咖啡的味道和新磨的一樣好。
Don Valencia, the firm's first head of research and development, who created the blended and frozen frappuccino drinks that earn Starbucks $2 billion a year,
唐?瓦倫西亞，星巴克公司研發(fā)部的首席研究員，他研發(fā)的法布奇諾咖啡為星巴克每年贏得2億美元，
could never find a way to scale up an instant formula he had developed at home.
他在家里研究時一直不能找到一種好的方法即規(guī)模化生產(chǎn)的速溶配方。
When Mr Schultz returned as chief executive, he noticed that there had been some technological advances, allowing finer grinding, for example.
當(dāng)舒爾茨先生重新回到星巴克任行政長官，他注意到，有了一些技術(shù)的進(jìn)步，例如能夠使咖啡豆更精細(xì)研磨。
So he asked the R&D team to repeat the recently deceased Valencia's experiments, and found that we had broken the code.
因此，他要求研發(fā)團(tuán)隊(duì)重做最近已故的Valencia實(shí)驗(yàn)，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)， 我們已經(jīng)破譯了密碼 。
The name Via is a hat-tip to Valencia—though during development it was known as Jaws.
把這款速溶咖啡命名Via是向Valencia致敬，但在開發(fā)過程中它被稱為大白鯊。
Starbucks says it has patents that should prevent competitors from quickly replicating Via, which will go on sale in some American stores next month.
星巴克表示，它擁有專利，可以防止競爭者迅速仿制Via，下個月美國的一些星巴克將開始出售Via。
The opportunity may, however, be biggest in other countries: in Britain over 80% of coffee sold is instant, compared with just 10% in America.
不過，在其他國家機(jī)會可以更大：英國80％以上的咖啡是速溶的，相比之下，美國速溶咖啡只有10％。
Assuming Starbucks drinkers decide that Via tastes good, the company will have to get the price right.
假設(shè)星巴克客人認(rèn)為Via好喝，公司將不得不把價(jià)格定合適。
At first, it will come in packets of 12 or 3 individual servings, for 83 and 98 cents a cup respectively.
首先，它會分為3袋裝或12袋裝，分別為83美分和98美分一杯。
That is much more than other instants, but much less than a cup of coffee at one of Starbucks' stores.
這比其他速溶咖啡貴很多 ，但遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)低于任何一個星巴克的門店的一杯咖啡。
The risk is that the firm's existing customers may abandon counter service and start making their own cup of instant.
市場的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)在于，公司現(xiàn)有的顧客可能會放棄柜臺服務(wù)，而開始泡速溶咖啡。
That would encourage them to visit Starbucks less often, a trend that is already gathering pace with the recession.
這將促使他們?nèi)バ前涂讼M(fèi)的次數(shù)下降，這一趨勢已經(jīng)在加快衰退的步伐。
The nickname Fourbucks has not helped at a time when consumers have become cost-conscious.
當(dāng)消費(fèi)者已經(jīng)開始省錢時，綽號Fourbucks的人是不會來星巴克消費(fèi)的。
For the first time in Starbucks' history, same-store sales have fallen.
這是在星巴克的歷史上，第一次同一店面銷售額開始下降。
Mr Schultz has had to accelerate the store-closure programme that he had started in order to correct the over-expansion which prompted his return to the helm.
舒爾茨先生不得不加快店鋪關(guān)閉方案，他已經(jīng)開始關(guān)閉店面以便糾正過度擴(kuò)張，從而使他重回咖啡王國。
To keep customers coming to remaining outlets, he might experiment with discounts such as cheap combination meals of a drink and food.
為了讓顧客常來剩下的店鋪，他可能會嘗試打折，如廉價(jià)的套餐的飲料和食品。
He also wants a visit to a Starbucks shop to be a uniquely uplifting experience.
他還希望顧客訪問星巴克是一個獨(dú)特的振奮的體驗(yàn) 。
Improving the smell in stores by changing the cheese used in breakfast sandwiches was a start.
替換三明治早餐里的奶酪來改善店里的進(jìn)餐氣氛就是一個開始。
But ensuring that staff are enthusiastic will be especially difficult when jobs are disappearing.
但要確保員工的工作熱情將是特別困難的，當(dāng)工作崗位正在減少時。
Mr Schultz remains hostile to unions, but has decided to maintain the firm's popular health benefits, while cutting his own pay.
舒爾茨先生仍然敵視工會，但決定保持該公司廣受歡迎的醫(yī)療保險(xiǎn)，同時降低自己的工資。
Will all this be enough?
這樣做就夠了嗎？
So far, investors seem sceptical:
迄今為止，投資者似乎持懷疑態(tài)度：
Starbucks' share price remains barely a quarter of its all-time high in 2006.
星巴克的股票價(jià)格仍然是2006年歷史最高水平的四分之一。
