经济学人杂志电子版双语讲解

经济学人杂志电子版双语讲解

 THIS WAS supposed to be the quarter that Kraft Heinz showed America's huge, struggling food companies a new model for success. A merger in 2015 had joined two of the world's most iconic food makers. Backed by 3G Capital, a private-equity firm, the new group slashed costs at a pace that made rivals shudder and investors swoon. After a failed bid in 2017 for Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch giant, Kraft Heinz set out to prove it could not just cut fat but boost sales on its own. Bernardo Hees, the company's boss, pointed cheerfully to new products, including Heinz Mayochup and something called Just Crack an Egg. The company was on the path to "sustainable, profitable growth", he declared in November. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

 On February 21st Kraft Heinz announced a staggering $15bn impairment, a dividend cut of more than 3o% and an inquiry into its procurement by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Earnings calls are often sleepy affairs. This one was a nightmare. Some of 3G's long-time critics are now clucking with satisfaction. Others fear 3G is tarnishing American treasures such as Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and Warren Buffett, who partnered with 3G to combine Heinz and Kraft and last year lost nearly $3bn on the deal. Yet dramatic as Kraft Heinz's decline may seem, 3G's impact and the food industry's problems extend far beyond it.

 While its founders are Brazilian, 3G's buyout business is based in Manhattan.(Its most famous founder, Jorge Paulo Lemann, lives in Switzerland.) Unlike many big private-equity firms, 3G's main investors are not pension funds but family offices and individuals, including its partners. It does not have a wide portfolio, but backs just two companies: Kraft Heinz and Restaurant Brands International (RBI). Blackstone, a private-equity firm based a few blocks away, has nearly 2,5oo staff.3G's New York office has fewer than two dozen. Yet 3G's leaders have rocked the consumer industry like few investors in history.

 All buyout firms are thirsty for deals, but 3G is uniquely parched. Before starting 3G, the firm's founders went on a beer-buying spree that culminated in 2o16 with Anheuser-Busch InBev's purchase of SAB Miller for more than $100bn. AB InBev, in which 3G's partners have a large stake, now brews more than one in four of the world's beers. Kraft Heinz counts Kraft cheese, Heinz Ketchup, Jell-0, Philadelphia Cream Cheese and Oscar Mayer among its holdings. RBI includes Burger King, Popeyes, a fried-chicken restaurant, and Tim Hortons, a popular Canadian chain.

The way 3G runs companies is as notable as its appetite for buying them. In a practice called zero-based budgeting, managers must justify their expenses anew each year. The idea is to expand margins continuously. Overseeing this are managers chosen for their talent and work ethic, rather than mere experience. Daniel Schwartz, a 3G partner, became the chief executive of Burger King at 32. Mr Hees, a 3G partner who spent more than a decade working for a Latin American railroad, became Kraft Heinz's boss at 45. David Knopf, its chief financial officer, assumed his position in 2017 at 29.

 To 3G's detractors, this all seems a bit mad. The company's strategy can be caricatured as follows: buy a big business, cut costs, repeat. This is not entirely fair. RBI has invested in marketing Burger King, winning prizes for its ads. AB InBev is working to boost its sales, for instance by pushing  higher-priced beers and deploying best practices across its vast geography.

 But buying big companies and slashing costs remain 3G's speciality. The risks of that strategy have become clear. RBI struggled to integrate franchisees at Tim Hortons. AB InBev last year said it would slash its dividend by half.

 Nowhere has 3G's approach played out more tumultuously than at Kraft Heinz. America's food industry seemed the perfect target, with flabby companies and powerful brands. Rare is the American who has not slurped Kool-Aid or downed an Oscar Mayer hot dog smothered in Heinz Ketchup.3G reckoned the brands were strong enough to withstand large cuts. As it turns out, they were not.

 This was not the same for AB InBev, which despite abysmal results in America, has little beer competition from in-store brands, is rarely sold online and faces ample growth abroad. Kraft Heinz's business, by comparison, is concentrated in America, where the food industry is being turned on its head. Its brands may be familiar, but that does not make them popular. Small firms are offering healthier options, taking advantage of cheap digital marketing and nimble contract manufacturers. The smallest 20,000 packaged goods players account for about half the industry's growth, according to Nielsen, a research firm.

 Meanwhile, the rise of e-commerce and European discount grocers has put pressure on food retailers, which are in turn squeezing food companies. Stores led by Walmart are using extensive data to launch their own, increasingly sophisticated, low-cost private label goods, all the while pushing companies to lower their prices.

 Things started well for Kraft Heinz. Its operating profit margin surged from 15% in 2014 to 24% in 2017. The first big setback came that year when Paul Polman, then Unilever's boss, rebuffed the company's $143bn courtship.(Unilever, wisely, has devoted growing attention not to food but to beauty and household products.) Without his megadeal, Mr Hees turned to the basic work of lifting sales by pouring more money into advertising, product innovation and Kraft Heinz's sales force, but that ate into profits.

 Equally striking is the company's new $15bn impairment, a recognition that the value of giant brands has shrivelled. Mr Buffett says that he misjudged the worth of Kraft's stable of products. "The management team entered into this merger with the assumption they could cut the spending needed to maintain brands, let alone help them grow," says Robert Moskow of Credit Suisse, a bank. "The world changed on them-retailers changed and consumers changed."

Flawed though 3G's approach may seem, few food companies offer a successful alternative. Companies have tried to evolve by buying smaller firms, often at lofty prices and with mixed results. For instance Campbell Soup bought Bolthouse Farms, a maker of fruity drinks, in 2o12, but is now trying to sell it. Last year it bought Snyder's-Lance, a pretzel and popcorn company, to boost its snacks business. Its debt level has risen accordingly. Indeed, shopping sprees at Campbell, ConAgra and General Mills have made those companies more levered than Kraft Heinz, according to Sanford C Bernstein, a research firm.

 Kraft Heinz now wants to shrink to grow: it plans divestments over the next 18 months to improve its balance sheet so it can make other, big deals. But the SEC's subpoena suggests that some internal processes might be unravelling as managers struggle to meet bold goals. The notion that big deals will save American food firms looks increasingly dubious. In 2014, before Heinz bought Kraft, the combined gross operating profits of the companies were about $6.5bn. Now, due in part to some problems beyond its control, Kraft Heinz expects its 2019 profits to be about the same.

卡夫亨氏《Kraft Heinz）本应在这个季度向美国规模巨大但陷入困境的食品公司展示一种通往成功的新模式。2015年，两家全球最具标志性的食品制造商合二为一。在私募股权公司G资本的支持下，新集团以令竞争对手战栗、令投资者狂喜的速度削减成本。2017年收购英荷巨头联合利华失败后，卡夫亨氏开始想办法证明自己不但会减肥，还能凭自身提高销焦额。公司老板贝尔纳多·希斯（Bernardo Hees）兴高采烈地搬出新产品作例证，包括亨氏的蛋黄番茄酱（Mayochup）和一种叫“打个蛋”（just Crack an Egg）的食品。去年11月他查布公司正走在遇往可持续、有盈利的增长“的道路上。遗憾的是，并没有。

上月21日，卡夫亨氏披露了150亿美元的巨额减记、削减超过30%的股息，以及美国证券交易委员会（SEC）调查其采购部门的事宜。财报电话会议通常让人昏昏欲题，这一次却是一场露梦。一些长期批评3G资本的人现在难掩得意之情。另一些人则担心，3G资本正在玷污像卡夫亨氏通心粉和巴菲特这样的美国瑰宝。之前正是巴非特与3G资本联手促成了亨氏和卡夫的合井，去年他因这笔交易亏损近30亿美元。不过，尽管卡夫亨氏的业绩下滑看起来很惊人，3G资本的影响和食品行业的问题却远不止于此。

3G资本的几位创始人都是巴西人，但收购业务的总部设在曼哈顿。（公司最知名的创始人豪尔赫·保罗·雷曼[Jorge Paulo Lemann]住在瑞士。）与许多大型私募股权公司不同，3G资本的主要投资者不是养老基金，而是家族办公空和个人，包括它的合伙人。它的投资组合并不广泛，只支持两家公司：卡夫亨氏和国际餐饮品牌公司（Restaurant Brands International，RBJ）。私募股权公司需石（Blackstone）的总卸离3G资本只有几个街区，有近2500名员工，而3G资本纽约办事处的员工还不到24人。不过，3G贸本的领导者却震憾了整个消费行业，极少有投资者曾做到这一点。

所有的投资收购公司都渴望达成交易，但3G资本在这方面的热望独一无二。在成立3G资本之前，该公司的创始人掀起了一场啤酒业收购狂湖，在2016年百威英博（Anheuser-Busch InBev）以逾1000亿美元收购SAB米勒（SAB Miller）时达到顶峰。如今，由G资本的合伙人大量持股的百威英博酿造了超过全球四分之一的啤酒。卡夫亨氏的产品包括卡夫奶酪、亨氏番茄、Jell-O果冻、菲力奶油奶酪和Oscar Mayer肉制品。RBI旗下有汉堡王、炸鸡店Popeyes和颇受欢迎的加拿大连锁店Tim Hortons。

3G资本运营所持有公司的方式和收购它们的劲头一样引人注目。它采用一种“零基预算法”的做法，经理们每年都要重新证明他们的支出是合理的。此举是为了持续扩大利润率。而监督这一操作的管理层是因他们的才能和职业道德而不仅仅是经验被选定的。3G资本的合伙人之一丹尼尔·施瓦茨（Daniel Schwartz）出任汉堡王的首席执行官时才32岁。另一位合伙人希斯在一家拉美铁路公司工作了十多年，45岁时成为卡夫亨氏的老板。首席财务官戴维·克诺夫（David Knopf）2017年上任时才29岁。

对于3G资本的抨击者来说，这一切似乎有点疯狂。夸张一点说，该公司的战略就是：收购一家大企业，削减成本，然后再重复。但这么说并不完全公平。RBI在汉堡王的营销上投资，赢得了广告大奖。百威英博正努力提振销售，比如推销价格更高的啤酒，并在公司广阔的版图上应用最佳实践。

但收购大公司和削减成本仍是3G资本的专长。这种策略的风险已经变得很明显。整合Tim Hortons的加盟商让RBI不堪重负。百威英博去年表示将把股息削减一半。

3G资本的这套做法用在卡夫亨氏上时表现得最为混乱。美国的食品产业看起来是个完美的目标，因为该行业里企业臃肿但品牌强大。很少有美国人没喝过速溶饮料Kool-Aid，或是没吃过涂满亨氏番茄酱的Oscar Mayer热狗。3G资本认为这些品牌足够强大，能承受大幅成本削减。事实证明它们并不能。

百威英博的情况就不一样了。尽管在美国的业绩糟糕透顶，但百威英博几乎没有遇到过来自商店自有品牌啤酒的竞争，很少在网上销售，而且海外增长强劲。相比之下，卡夫亨氏的业务集中在美国，而美国的食品行业正在发生翻天覆地的变化。它的各个品牌可能为人熟知，但这并不能让它们大卖。小公司正利用便宜的数字营销和灵活的承包生产商带来的优势，提供给消费者更健康的选择。根据研究公司尼尔森的数据，规模最小的两万家包装食品公司占了整个行业增长的一半左右。

与此同时，电子商务和欧洲折扣杂货商的崛起给食品零售商带来了压力，它们继而又向食品公司施压。以沃尔玛为首的商店正在利用大量数据推出越来越精致且价格低廉的自有品牌商品，并始终在促使食品公司降价。

卡夫亨氏的开局不错。营业利润率从2014年的15%飙升至2017年的24%。2017年，卡夫亨氏遭遇了第一次重大挫折，时任联合利华老板的保罗.波尔曼（Paul Polman）拒绝了该公司1430亿美元的求购。（联合利华明智地将注意力越来越多地放在美容和家用品而非食品上。）巨额收购计划落空，希斯转而专注于提高销售额这项基础工作，将更多资金投在广告、产品创新和卡夫亨氏的销售队伍上，但这侵蚀了利润。

同样惹人注目的是该公司150亿美元的新一轮减记，这等于承认公司各大品牌价值缩水。巴菲特表示他错误地判断了卡夫众多产品的价值。“管理团队设想的是，合并之后他们可以削减品牌维护所必需的开支，更不用说帮助品牌成长了，”瑞信银行的罗伯特·莫斯可（Robert Moskow）说道，“世界在他们那里发生了变化——零售商变了，消费者也变了。”

3G资本的方法似乎存在缺陷，但极少有食品公司能拿出一个成功的替代方案。各大公司尝试通过收购规模较小的公司来自我进化，这些收购交易的价格往往很高，而收效不一。例如，金宝汤（Campbell Soup）于2012年收购了果汁饮料生产商Bolthouse Farms，但现在又想把它卖掉。去年它收购了一家椒盐脆饼和爆米花公司Snyder's-Lance，以扩大零食业务。它的债务水平也相应上升。研究公司盛博称，实际上，金宝汤、康尼格拉（ConAgra）和通用磨坊（General Mills）的疯狂收购使得这些公司的杠杆率比卡夫亨氏还高。

卡夫亨氏现在希望通过收缩规模来实现增长：它计划在未来18个月剥离资产以改善资产负债表，以便能实现其他大规模交易。但美国证交会的传票显示，由于管理层难以达到大胆的目标，一些内部流程可能正在瓦解。大型交易能拯救美国食品公司的想法看起来越来越不可靠了。2014年在亨氏收购卡夫之前，两家公司的总营业利润约为65亿美元。现在，一定程度上由于公司自身无法控制的一些问题，卡夫亨氏预计2019年的利润将与合并前大致相同。

经济学人双语精读笔记：A life less sweet

LARGE food companies have long been among the world’s most solid, with reassuringly consistent returns even in hard times. None would seem steadier than Nestlé, based in the Swiss town of Vevey, on a lake near snowy peaks. For its 150th anniversary in 2016 it opened a new museum filled with corporate heirlooms （传家宝，祖传遗物）: the first written notes about a new product called milk chocolate, laid out in black cursive （草书，手写体）; an old tin of Nescafé, used by soldiers as a stimulant in the second world war; and an early can of Henri Nestlé’s infant formula, which in 1867 saved the life of a premature baby.

大型食品公司长期以来都属于世界上最坚实的企业之列，即使在艰难时期也有令人安心的稳定回报。似乎没有哪家企业比总部位于瑞士雪山湖畔韦威镇(Vevey)的雀巢公司更稳固了。2016年雀巢成立150周年之际，其新揭幕的博物馆展示了众多“传家宝”：有关新产品“牛奶巧克力”的首份书面记录，用黑色草体书写；一罐陈年的雀巢咖啡，在二战时士兵们曾用它来提神；还有一罐早期的亨利雀巢婴儿配方奶粉一一它在1867年挽救了一名早产儿的生命。

It has come a long way （取得很大进展） since then. It sold goods worth nearly $90bn in 189 countries in 2015. Of the 30,000 cups of coffee sipped （抿，小口喝，中文里说的“品茶”的“品”，也可以用这个动词） around the world each second, Nestlé estimates, one-fifth are cups of Nescafé. But the industry it presides over is in upheaval （剧变）. On January 1st a new chief executive, Ulf Mark Schneider (pictured), took over. He is the first outsider to get the top job since 1922, and his background—running a health-care firm, not selling chocolate bars or frozen pizza—suggests the main source of worry for the business.

自那以后，雀巢已有长足发展。2015年，该公司在189个国家的销售额近900亿美元。雀巢估计，全球每秒有三万杯咖啡被人们捧到嘴边，其中五分之一是雀巢咖啡。但是，其主导的行业正经历巨变。1月1日，雀巢新首席执行官乌尔夫·马克·施奈德（Ulf Mark Schneider，见图）上任。他是自1922年以来首位担任这一最高职位的外部人士，而他之前管理医疗保健企业（而不是卖巧克力棒或冷冻披萨）的工作背景是导致人们忧虑雀巢前景的主要原因。

More and more consumers are snubbing （冷落） packaged food’s sugar, salt and unpronounceable （难以正确发音的 ） preservatives （防腐剂）. Meanwhile, swarms of （大群） smaller firms, emboldened （使大胆） by the ease of peddling （沿街叫卖） goods online, are touting （招徕顾客） supposedly healthier options. From 2011 to 2015 big sellers of consumer-packaged goods, mainly food and drink companies, lost three percentage points of market share in America—a lot in the industry’s context—according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group, a consultancy, and IRI, a data provider.

包装食品中的糖、盐以及各种名称拗口的防腐剂正受到越来越多消费者的冷落。同时，大批小公司借助网络销售之便，推广据称更为健康的食品。据波士顿咨询公司及数据提供商IRI的一份研究，从2011年到2015年，包装消费品的销售大户（主要为食品及饮料公司）在美国的市场份额损失了三个百分点，这对该行业来说相当可观。

As super-sized companies swat （重拍，猛击，比如She swatted him over the head with a rolled-up magazine. 她用一本卷起来的杂志猛敲他的头。） at such tiny attackers, another foe is gaining ground. 3G, a Brazilian private-equity firm, likes to buy big, slow-growing food and drinks companies and slash their costs. Targets have included Kraft and Heinz, two giants which 3G helped merge into one group in 2015, as well as several of the world’s biggest brewers. Other food companies are scrambling （仓促行动） to make cuts of their own, lest they become 3G’s next meal. That has prompted a debate over whether such cuts wreck firms’ growth prospects even further, or whether, in fact, they are best off （最好做某事） wringing out （绞出，扭干） profits and accepting that robust expansion is a thing of the past.

巨头企业在大力回击这些小型袭击者之时，另一个敌人也开始抢占地盘。巴西私募股权公司3G喜欢购入增长缓慢的大型食品及饮料企业，并削减它们的经营成本。其目标包括卡夫及亨氏量大巨头（2015年，3G促成这两家企业合并为一个集团），还有几家全球最大的啤酒公司。其他食品公司正在争相自行削减成本，以免成为3G的下一个猎物。这引发了一个争论：这样的成本削减会不会进一步破坏公司的增长前景，还是说，强劲扩张已经过时，企业最好能接受这一点并挤出利润。

Nestlé is not immune to such pressures. In recent years it has often missed its goal of 5-6% sales growth. Excluding acquisitions, its numbers have not met investors’ expectations for 11 of the past 17 quarters. In the most recent quarter, the firm registered organic sales growth of 3.2%.

面对这些压力，雀巢也未能幸免。近年来，该公司经常达不到销售增长5%至6%的目标。不包括收购，在过去17个季度中，该公司有11个季度的增速没有达资者预期。最近一个季度，雀巢的有机销售增长率为3.2%。

Changing consumer tastes explain some of these shortfalls. So does a shifting retail landscape. Managing a giant portfolio of brands, from KitKat and Nespresso to DiGiorno pizza and Purina dog food, has become harder. Mr Schneider will have to master online ways to market and deliver its well-known brands. The firm needs to coax （哄诱） customers to pay more for premium products as ordinary ones get commoditised, and discounted by firms such as Germany’s Lidl and Aldi.

之所以增长乏力，消费者口味改变是部分因素，零售业大环境的转变也是原因之一。要管理包含KitKat巧克力、Nespresso咖啡、DiGiorno比萨、普瑞纳狗粮在内的庞大品牌组合已变得愈加艰难。施奈德必须掌握线上手段来营销和传达公司的知名品牌。在普通产品被德国连锁超市Lidl及Aldi等公司变成日常商品又折价销售的情况下，雀巢公司需要劝诱客户为高端产品支付更高的价格。

The firm can still boast impressive staying power—its global market share across its entire range of products has remained near 20% for the past decade. François-Xavier Roger, Nestlé’s chief financial officer, points out that the group’s sales growth in the first nine months of 2016 was among the fastest of the top ten biggest food and drink companies. Yet a detailed examination of its position by Sanford C. Bernstein, a research firm, shows that when growth from acquisitions is excluded, it lost share in all but three of its top 20 product categories between 2007 and 2015. Some of its core offerings, such as bottled water and single-serve （单杯式） coffee, fared （vi. 经营） the worst.

雀巢仍能以其持久的实力为傲一一过去十年间，其全线产品的全球市场份额一直保持在接近20%。首席财务官弗朗索瓦-泽维尔·罗杰(Francois-Xavier Roger)指出，雀巢集团在2016年前九个月的销售增长是全球十大食品饮料企业中最快的。但市场研究公司盛博(Sanford C．Bernstein)对该公司的详细研究表明，除去收购带来的增长，2007年至2015年间，集团最大的20个产品品类中仅有3类的市场份额未下跌。瓶装水和单标咖啡等一些核心产品表现最差。雀巢咖啡包产品的劲敌Keurig在美国抢占了份额。

Such results are likely to attract particular censure （责难） from investors because of Nestlé’s past heavy emphasis on growth and market share which sometimes came at the expense of （以……为代价）lower profits. In 2015 its operating-profit margin was 15%, better than the 13% at Danone, a French competitor, but far below the 21% at Kraft-Heinz. Shareholders in the firm are waiting to see whether Mr Schneider will shake things up （使振作，shake up其他含义见注释）. Some want him to sell off businesses that seem most at risk of long-term decline, such as frozen food, as shoppers look for fresher fare （食物，这篇文章之前也出现了一个fare，那个是做不及物动词，表示经营）.

这种业绩很可能会惹来投资者的指责，毕竟雀巢过去强调增长和市场占有率，有时还不惜为此牺牲利润。2015年，它的营业利润率为15%，优于其法国对手达能公司的13%，但远低于卡夫亨氏的21%。雀巢的股东们正在观望施奈德能否改变现状。有人希望他卖掉业绩最有可能长期下滑的业务，例如冷冻食品，因为消费者如今偏好更新鲜的食品。

shake up

1.摇动；混合；摇匀：

Shake up before drinking.

服用前摇匀[药瓶说明用语]

2.使感到震动；使震惊(或慌乱)：

What you said has shaken me up!

你刚才说的话令我十分震惊!

3.改组，使重新组合：

I have to shake the Sales Department up.

我得对销售部进行改组。

4.抖摇(靠垫、枕头等)使之恢复原形：

She shook up the pillows, and then lay down in bed.

她把枕头抖摇膨松后，躺在了床上。

5.[口语]把…摇醒；使振作：

What could shake him up?

什么才能使他振作起来呢?

6.[常作 shake it up][口语]赶快,快点：

Shake it up, we'll be late.

快点儿，咱们快晚了。

7.[废语]责备；申斥：

The student was shaken up by his mother.

那个学生被他母亲申斥了一顿。

Food for life?

生命之食？

For now, Nestlé is defiant. “We started 150 years ago having a product that actually—there’s symbolism there—saved the life of a child,” says Paul Bulcke, the outgoing （即将离职的） chief executive and likely new chairman. He and his colleagues say that investment in health and related innovation will produce strong growth for years to come. Mr Schneider, who used to run Fresenius, a German firm that offers kidney-dialysis products and services, will certainly emphasise that message. Nestlé differentiates itself from 3G, with its keen focus on cuts. Mr Roger says he respects what 3G does, but that “they have a strategy which is very different from ours.”

目前来看，雀巢并不服气。“我们始创于150年前，当时的一款产品实际上救了一个孩子的命，这是有象征意义的。”即将离任的首席执行官保罗·薄凯(Paul Bulcke)说道。他和同事们表示，投资于健康及相关创新会为公司未来带来强劲增长。施奈德曾掌管提供肾透析产品及其他医疗服务的大型德国企业费森尤斯(Fresenius)，他肯定会强调这一点。雀巢将自己与专注削减成本的3G区别开来。罗杰表示，他尊重3G的做法，但“他们的战略和我们的相去甚远”。

Still, few observers would call Nestlé a health company. Many of its products are perfectly healthy, including bottled water and coffee. Many are not—milk chocolate and ice cream, to name but two. And for now, the purest forms of Nestlé’s focus on health contribute relatively little to its sales. A business unit called Nestlé Health Science, for example, sells nutritional products for medical needs, such as vitamin-packed drinks for the elderly and for cancer patients. It contributes less than 5% of revenue.

然而，少有观察者会认为雀巢是一家保健公司。它有很多非常健康的产品，包括瓶装水和咖啡。但也有许多产品并不健康，在此只举两例：比如牛奶巧克力和冰激淋。而现在，雀巢最纯粹专注健康的业务对销售额的贡献相对很少。例如，名为“雀巢健康科学”的业务部门销售面向医疗需求的营养产品，比如供老年人和癌症患者饮用的富含维生素饮料，而该部门贡献的收入还不到5%。

The firm has a research institute devoted to studying food’s role in the management and prevention of disease—for example, better understanding nutrition’s ability to promote brain health. It may deliver growth but probably only in the long term. Nestlé has also invested in young drugs firms, including one that is testing a treatment for ulcerative colitis （溃疡性结肠炎）.

雀巢设有一家研究所．专门研究食物在管理和预防疾病中的作用，例如要更好地了解营养物质如何能够促进大脑的健康。这也许会带来增长，但可能要许久才能见效。雀巢也与一些新兴制药公司合作，包括一家正在测试某种溃疡性结肠炎疗法的公司。

More immediately rewarding may be its efforts to make best-selling but unhealthy foods a bit more wholesome （有益健康的）. In November the company said it had created hollow （空心的） sugar crystals that taste sweet but contain fewer calories than the usual stuff. It will begin to put the new ingredient in its chocolate in 2018.

雀巢还努力将旗下畅销但不健康的食品改良得相对健康一些，这也许更有可能带来立竿见影的回报。去年11月，该公司表示已创制出一种空心的糖晶体，味道甜但含卡路里较常规糖晶体低。公司将在2018年采用这一新原料制作巧克力。

It is also proud of changes to the millions of frozen dinners it sells every week in America. Shoppers had been avoiding the frozen-food aisle （走廊，通道）. Nestlé first tried discounts, and then in 2015 introduced new versions of its Lean Cuisine products, stripping out （去掉） unpalatable （难吃的） ingredients and replacing them with organic ones. At Stouffer’s, another frozen brand, Nestlé decided to target men with easy, protein-packed meals that are more nutritionally valuable. It worked—its frozen-food sales in America grew faster. In November 2015, they were 6% above what they had been a year earlier. But Bernstein’s Andrew Wood points out that the revival of frozen food now looks wobbly （不稳定的） again.

雀巢另一项引以为豪的改变是冷冻快餐（在美国每周卖出数百万份）。之前，冷冻食品受到消费者冷落。雀巢先是尝试折价促销，然后又在2015年推出新版的“瘦身特餐”(Lean Cuisine)系列，以有机食材替换掉之前难吃的成分。对于旗下另一个冷冻食品品牌Stouffer，雀巢决定针对男性消费者推出富含蛋白质、更具营养价值的速食简餐。这些努力取得了成效一一其冷冻食品的销售在美国增长加快。2015年11月的销售额同比增长6%。但盛博的安德鲁·伍德(Andrew Wood)指出，冷冻食品的复兴如今似乎又变得摇摆不定。

Nor is Nestlé ignoring 3G’s strategy entirely: it is trying to trim expenses. “We are very much in an investment position, not in a cost-cutting exercise,” says Mr Roger, “but that doesn’t mean that we don’t want to be cost-efficient in what we do.” One effort, which includes trimming waste at factories, is credited with （credit相关词组见注释） saving about SFr1.5bn ($1.5bn) a year. Last year Nestlé announced organisational changes, such as consolidating procurement, which will save about SFr2bn each year from 2020.

雀巢也没有完全忽视3G的战略：公司正努力缩减支出。“我们的战略是投资，而非削减成本。”罗杰说，“但那不惠昧着我们不想在经营中实现成本效益。”一项包括工厂减少浪费在内的改革一年为公司节省了约15亿瑞士法郎(15亿美元)。去年，雀巢公布了一系列组织变革，如采购整合，将从2020年起每年为公司节省约20亿瑞士法郎。

1、Get the credit for sth. 因某事受到褒扬，比如：

We don't mind who gets the credit so long as we don't get the blame.

只要我们不挨批评，谁受到表扬我们都不在乎。

2、A credit B with sth. A把某事归功于B，也可以说：sth. is credited to B 某事归功于B，比如：

The staff are crediting him with having saved Hythe's life.

海斯能得救全体人员都归功于他。

3、Be credit to sth./sb. 给……增光，比如：

He is one of the greatest players of recent times and is a credit to his profession.

他是近年来最棒的选手之一，是为他的职业增光的人。

4、Give sb. Credit for sth. 相信某人有……，比如：

Bratbakk had more ability than the media gave him credit for.

布拉特巴克有比媒体所宣传的还要强的能力。

5、To one’s credit 值得赞扬，比如：

She had managed to pull herself together and, to her credit, continued to look upon life as a positive experience.

她努力使自己振作起来，并且值得称赞的是，她一如既往地积极面对人生。

Whatever else Mr Schneider has on the menu for Nestlé, radical changes may be somewhat limited by the fact that so many of those who built it into what it is now are sticking around （逗留，在附近徘徊。此处意译为“留在公司内”）. Mr Bulcke is expected to become the firm’s chairman. The outgoing chairman, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, a former Nestlé chief executive, may become honorary chairman. Mr Bulcke, for one, seems sure that the company should maintain its emphasis on the long term. He taps his hand on the table, rattling （使发出嘎嘎声） some Nespresso cups, as he insists that growth is still the key.

无论施耐德还将为雀巢准备怎样的菜单，彻底变革也许多少都会受到限制，因为令雀巢发展到如今这模样的人大多还留在公司内。薄凯预计会成为集团的董事长。即将离任的董事长、雀巢前首席执行官包必达 (Peter Brabeck-Letmathe) 则可能成为名誉董事长。薄凯似乎确信雀巢应保持着力于长远发展。他手敲着桌子，震得一些Nespresso杯子当当作响，坚称增长仍是关键。

经济学人双语精读笔记：Three kingdoms, two empires 三国鼎立，两帝称雄

Three kingdoms, two empires

三国鼎立，两帝称雄

★题目翻译：

three kingdoms应该是借鉴了中国的《三国演义》，而中文翻译也同样借鉴了“三国鼎立”这个成语，相当于增补了一个动词；

后半部分的two empires则为了和前面对应，同样增补了动词“称雄”♂

这个增补词语的选择与正文所讲述的内容有关，主要讲了中国三大互联网公司的发展现状，其中阿里巴巴和腾讯发展势头迅猛而百度则被甩开，所以这里取“称雄”作为动词。

THERE was a time, not that long ago, when China’s big internet companies were dismissed by investors in Silicon Valley as marginal firms with a tendency to copy Western products. Not any more . Today they are monsters with increasingly hefty international ambitions .

就在不久前，硅谷的投资者还根本不把中国的大型互联网公司放在眼里，认为它们不过是些边缘企业，往往都是照搬西方的产品。时过境迁，今天这些中国互联网公司已经长成了猛兽，在国际市场上的野心不断膨胀。

★单词

dismiss : V-T If you dismiss something, you decide or say that it is not important enough for you to think about or consider. 不予理会，比如：

Mr. Wakeham dismissed the reports as speculation.

韦克厄姆先生把这些报道当作臆测而不予理会。

其他常用含义：

解雇 V-T When an employer dismisses an employee, the employer tells the employee that they are no longer needed to do the job that they have been doing.

marginal : ADJ If you describe people as marginal, you mean that they are not involved in the main events or developments in society because they are poor or have no power. 无足轻重的，比如：

The tribunals were established for the well-integrated members of society and not for marginal individuals.

这个特别法庭是为社会中的主流人群设立的，而不是为了无足轻重的小人物。

其他常用含义：

边际的 ADJ Marginal activities, costs, or taxes are not the main part of a business or an economic system, but often make the difference between its success or failure, and are therefore important to control. 边际的

hefty : ADJ Hefty means large in size, weight, or amount. 庞大的; 沉重的，比如：

She was quite a hefty woman.

她是个相当高大的女人。

其他常用含义:

有力的 ADJ A hefty movement is done with a lot of force.

★翻译tips

as-这里把介词翻译成了“认为”，动词化。

with a tendency：译为频度副词“往往”，而不是直译成“有…的趋势”。

Not any more. 英文文章中常见的一句话，“时过境迁”是个值得积累的中文表达，意思是随着时间推移，情况发生了变化。

international ambitions：增译，只译为“国际野心”没有任何含义，在根据语境增译了“市场”，意思就通顺了。

Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce group, handles more transactions each year than do eBay and Amazon combined. Jack Ma, its chairman, pledges to serve 2bn consumers around the world within 20 years. Tencent, which specialises in online games and social media, is now the world’s tenth most valuable public firm , worth some $275bn. Pony Ma (no relation), its chairman, wants China to “preside over the global tech revolution of the future”. But as the two firms become global forces, the third member of China’s “ BAT” trio of internet giants, Baidu, an online-search firm that came to dominate the mainland market after Google left the country to avoid censorship, is lagging behind.

中国最大的电商集团阿里巴巴每年处理的交易量超过eBay和亚马逊的总和，董事局主席马云承诺要在20年内为全球20亿消费者提供服务。专注网络游戏和社交媒体的腾讯公司现在是世界第十大最有价值的上市公司，市值约2750亿美元。董事长马化腾（和马云不是亲戚）希望中国能“领导未来的全球科技革命”。中国互联网三巨头“BAT”中的第三位是百度。谷歌为避免审查制度退出中国后，百度便称霸中国大陆的在线搜索市场。另外两大巨头已成为国际大公司，百度却落在人后。

★单词

马云、马化腾有“二马”之称，在外刊中一般都只使用他们的英文名字，前者Jack Ma，后者Pony Ma

public firm ：上市公司。go public 上市

preside over : to be in a position of authority at a time when important things are happening 负责（重要局面），比如：

The government seemed to be presiding over large-scale unemployment.

政府似乎正面临着大规模的失业状况。

其他含义：

1）to be the head of a company or organization 掌管，管辖，领导

2）to be in charge of a meeting or activity 主持

BAT trio ：

1）trio：a set or group of three people or things三人组，三件套。主要是强调“三”这个概念，和原文中的trio of internet giants合起来就是常说的“三巨头”。Trio还有一个意思是“三重唱，三重奏”，与之相关的独唱（奏）、二重唱（奏）、四重唱（奏）分别是solo，duet，quartet

2）BAT-中国国内三大互联网公司，B-Baidu百度、A-Alibaba阿里巴巴、T-Tencent腾讯。

美国也有类似的三巨头，称为“GAF”,即：G-Google谷歌、A-Amazon亚马逊/A-Apple苹果、F-Facebook脸书。

bn=billion 十亿；mn=million 百万；tn=trillion 万亿/兆

★长难句解析

Alibaba(主语), China’s biggest e-commerce group（同位语）, handles（谓语） more transactions（宾语） each year（时间状语） /than do eBay and Amazon combined(状语).

不好理解的点在于than后面的部分，do代替了前面的handle，combined作后置定语修饰eBay and Amazon表示二者加起来的。涉及比较的句子中，如果谓语动词是实义动词，那么than后面的比较对象的动词一般用do/did/does替代，并提到名词前面。

But as the two firms become global forces（状从）, the third member of China’s “BAT” trio of internet giants（主语）, Baidu（同位语）, an online-search firm（同位语）/ that came to dominate the mainland market after Google left the country to avoid censorship（定语从句，after是定从嵌套的状从）/, is lagging behind（主句谓语）.

这一句主语部分较长，官方的译文并没有严格按照英文的顺序进行翻译，而是根据中文的表达逻辑进行了调整。

1）先翻译the third member of China’s “BAT” trio of internet giants, Baidu将短语译成了句子。先翻这一句是因为前面分别介绍了阿里巴巴和腾讯，从这一句开始都是讲百度，所以先把句子的主要对象引出来，再去翻译它的情况。

2）an online-search firm that came to dominate the mainland market after Google left the country to avoid censorship 把定语从句和先行词也单独译成了一句。这一句主要按照时间顺序翻译，先说谷歌退出中国，再说百度占领市场，并且先行词和定从中的market进行了结合，避免重复介绍百度，同时说清楚了它所占领的是什么市场。

3）介绍了百度之前的情况之后，在翻译现在和另外两家公司的对比，But as the two firms become global forces以及is lagging behind两部分。

这一个长句的翻译很好的体现了中英文表达上逻辑的不同，这一句主要是按照以时间为线索，先介绍主体，再介绍主体过去和现在的情况。

All three firms differ from their Western peers in important ways. First, Western companies usually prefer to focus on a few core areas, whereas Chinese internet firms typically try to do everything from cloud computing to digital payments. When this works, as with Tencent’s wildly successful app, WeChat, the results can be impressive.

这三家公司与西方同行在几个重要方面有所不同。首先，西方公司通常会聚焦几个核心领域，而中国互联网公司一般涉猎广泛，从云计算到数字支付无不尝试。这样的尝试一旦成功，结果便会非常可观，腾讯大获成功的应用微信即是如此。

★单词

as with ：正如，如同…一样

★翻译tips

When this works, as with Tencent’s wildly successful app, WeChat, the results can be impressive.

this-Chinese internet firms typically try to do everything from cloud computing to digital payments

as…WeChat 插入语放到了后面翻译，先翻译从句和主句

Second, with the exception of political censorship , the internet sector in China is lightly regulated. Facebook, Apple and Google, in contrast, face increasing scrutiny. Chinese internet firms can achieve market domination of a sort that would attract close attention in other markets.

第二，抛开要接受政治审查这一点，中国互联网行业的监管较为宽松；而Facebook、苹果和谷歌则面临日益严格的审视。以中国互联网企业能达到的市场支配地位，换在其他市场，会受到监管机构的密切关注。

★单词

censorship : N-UNCOUNT Censorship is the censoring of books, plays, movies, or reports, especially by government officials, because they are considered immoral or secret in some way. (官方对书刊、剧本、电影或新闻报道的) 审查，比如：

The government today announced that press censorship was being lifted.

该政府今日宣告说正在撤销新闻审查。

中国的电影审查制度就用 film censorship；电影分级制度可以说film/motion picture rating system；（电影电视中）广告植入 product placement

of a sort ：一种，一类，sort可看做等于market domination

其他含义：of sorts/of a sort 勉强称得上的，勉强算的，比如：

I have a conversation of sorts with a very drunk man at the bus stop.

The third difference is that they can succeed on a rapid and massive scale because the state-dominated economy is so inefficient. Often there is not even a physical infrastructure to leapfrog —so-called third-tier cities, for example, often lack big retail centres. Nationwide there is one shopping mall per 1.2m people.

第三个区别是，由于国家主导的经济效率低下，中国互联网企业可以快速取得大规模成功。企业发展过程中通常甚至都没有挡路的实体机构，比如在所谓的三线城市，往往都缺少大型零售中心。中国每120万人才有一个大型购物中心。

★单词

physical ：实体的。实体店-physical store

leapfrog : V-T/V-I If one group of people leapfrogs into a particular position or leapfrogs someone else, they use the achievements of another person or group in order to make advances of their own. (利用别人成就) 超越，比如：

It is already obvious that all four American systems have leapfrogged over the European versions.

显然，美国的全部4套系统已经超越了欧洲的版本。

third-tier ：三线城市；second-tier：二线城市。或者也可以说tier two/tier three city

★翻译tips:

a physical infrastructure to leapfrog：

1)infrastructure 通常译为“基础设施”，既可以是可数名词也可以是不可数名词，原文前面加了a，所以译文将其具体化成“实体机构”，主要是指国有的机构。

2）按照顺序应该是“对企业来说甚至没有可以让其超越的实体机构”，译文直接转换了角度，将“企业去超越实体机构”转换成“挡路的实体机构”，更符合中文表达习惯。

A huge home market has not stopped the trio from fighting bloody turf wars among each other. The outcome to this battle is rapidly becoming clear. Tencent and Alibaba are surging ahead; a series of own goals has left Baidu far behind. The common jibe about Baidu among local experts is that it is becoming the Yahoo of China, a once-dominant search giant that sank owing to a lack of innovation and a series of management blunders .

国内市场如此巨大，却仍未能阻止这三巨头相互厮杀抢夺地盘。这场战斗的结果正迅速明朗。腾讯和阿里巴巴遥遥领先，百度则因自己一连串的乌龙球而远远落后。国内专家最常用来挖苦百度的一个说法就是它正在变成中国的雅虎。雅虎一度是占据市场主导地位的搜索巨头，却因缺乏创新和一系列管理失误而沉沦。

★单词

turf wars : a fight or argument over the areas or things you think belong to you 地盘之争

turf：N-UNCOUNT

1）Someone's turf is the area which is most familiar to them or where they feel most confident. 地盘; 活动范围，比如：

Their turf was : its streets, theaters, homes, and parks.

他们的地盘是圣路易斯：它的街道、剧院、住宅和公园。

2）草皮

own goal ：

1）a goal that you accidentally score against your own team without intending to in a game of football, hockey etc. 乌龙球（足球、曲棍球等比赛中）

2）an action or remark that has the opposite effect from what you intended （不利于自己的）错事，蠢话，自打嘴巴 ，比如：

The minister’s admission turned out to be a spectacular own goal.

这位部长的招认结果成了引人注目的自打嘴巴。

leave behind ：把…落在后面（常用被动），比如：

In class, a child with poor eyesight can soon be left behind.

在课堂上，视力不好的孩子很快就会落在别人的后面。

近义词：lag behind 落后于（与be left behind同义），比如：

Britain is lagging behind the rest of Europe.

英国落后于欧洲其他国家。

blunder ：

1）N-COUNT A blunder is a stupid or careless mistake. 愚蠢错误，比如：

I think he made a tactical blunder by announcing it so far ahead of time.

我认为他如此提早宣布消息是犯了战术上的错误。——可以替换mistake

2）V-I If you blunder, you make a stupid or careless mistake. 犯愚蠢错误，比如：

No doubt I had blundered again.

不用说我又犯了个蠢错。

3）V-I If you blunder into a dangerous or difficult situation, you get involved in it by mistake. 误入 (危险境地或困境)，比如：

People wanted to know how they had blundered into war, and how to avoid it in the future.

人们想弄清他们怎么会错误地卷入战争，将来如何才能避免这样的事。

4）V-I If you blunder somewhere, you move there in a clumsy and careless way. 跌跌撞撞地走，比如：

He had blundered into the table, upsetting the flowers.

他撞上了桌子，打翻了花。

★翻译tips

The common jibe about Baidu among local experts is that it is becoming the Yahoo of China, a once-dominant search giant that sank owing to a lack of innovation and a series of management blunders.

1）The common jibe about Baidu among local experts：国内专家最常用来挖苦百度的一个说法——jibe-词性转换，译为动词；增译“一个说法”

2）a once-dominant search giant that sank owing to a lack of innovation and a series of management blunders. 同位语，介绍Yahoo的情况，译文中以“雅虎”为主语重启一句。

Its revenue growth fell to 6.3% in 2016, down from 35% in 2015 and 54% in 2014. The firm gets some nine-tenths of its revenues from online ads, but this income is plunging as marketers redirect spending from search ads on Baidu to social-media networks like WeChat and mobile-commerce platforms run by Alibaba. Meanwhile, Baidu is burning cash trying to keep its various big bets on artificial intelligence (AI), online video, virtual and augmented-reality technologies, and “online to offline” (O2O) services going. One of China’s most respected business consultants is pessimistic about its future: “There is very little chance they’ll be relevant in five years.”

百度的收入增长率在2016年下降至6.3%，远低于2015年的35%和2014年的54%。公司收入约九成都来自在线广告，但由于商家把花在百度搜索广告的钱转投至微信这样的社交媒体网络以及阿里巴巴运营的移动商务平台，百度的收入大幅下滑。同时，百度还在烧钱维系它的几个大赌注：人工智能（AI）、在线视频、虚拟和增强现实技术，以及“线上到线下”（O2O）服务。中国最受尊敬的商业顾问之一对百度的未来持悲观态度：“五年以后很可能就没百度什么事了。”

★单词

burn cash ：花钱，烧钱。跟中文的“烧钱”意思相通。

★翻译tips

There is very little chance they’ll be relevant in five years.

五年以后很可能就没百度什么事了

正说反译，原句中未出现not之类的否定词，而在翻译中则用到了“没”这个中文中的否定词。

经济学人双语对照——Recreational Vehicles: On the road 房车：在路上

原文出处： The Economist, Business, New York, Apr. 20th 2017.

Recreational Vehicles:On the road

房车：在路上

An all-American product finds new takers.

美国产品找到新买家。

Early spring is the main selling season for recreational vehicles (RVs) and the phone on Tom Troiano's desk has been ringing incessantly. The owner of Continental RV, a dealership in Farmingdale, a village on Long Island, Mr Troiano is on track to sell more RVs this year than in any other since the early 2000s. Buoyed by cheap financing, rising wages and inexpensive gas, travellers are once again splurging on big-ticket camper vans.

早春是房车销售的黄金季，Tom Troiano桌上的电话一直响个不停。Tom Troiano是长岛法明代尔村房车经销店大陆房车(Continental RV)的老板，该店销售状况很好，预计今年销售额将达到2000年初以来的最高水平。贷款利率低，工资上涨，油价低廉，驴友们再次疯狂了，不惜撒上大把钞票购买房车。

RVs are a quintessentially American invention: more than two-thirds are made in the United States. Nationally, sales surged to 430,000 units last year, a 40-year high. At the inexpensive end they sell for as little as $5,000 for a caravan; deluxe versions cost up to $1m and are typically equipped with a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom that are bigger than in many European flats. The share prices of Thor Industries, the biggest RV-manufacturer in America, and Winnebago, the third-largest, have risen by 43% and 17%, respectively, in the past year.

房车是典型的美国发明：世界上三分之二以上的房车都产在美国。去年全美销量飙升至43万辆，达到40年来最高水平。低端产品如旅行拖车，售价只在5000美元；豪华车型价格高达100万，一般有一个卧室、一个厨房、一个卫生间，比欧洲许多公寓房还大。去年，美国最大房车生产商霍尔工业和第三大生产商温内巴戈股价分别上涨43%和17%。

That is a big  the 2008-09 recession, notes Mr Troiano, RV dealerships everywhere closed down, leaving his shop among the very few left serving the New York metropolitan area. The current rebound is mostly owing to the economy's recovery, but it also springs from the fact that new types of customer are embracing the lifestyle.

真是形势剧变。Troiano指出，08-09年经济衰退，各处房车经销商纷纷倒闭，像他这样仍坚持在纽约大都市区经营的经销商没有几家。眼下销售回暖主要是经济复苏的结果，同时，有新的客户群开始崇尚这种生活方式，也是销售反弹的一个原因。

A decade ago the average age of an RV-owner was 49, and over 90% were white, says Kevin Broom of the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA), an industry body. That didn't bode well for the future. But stereotypes are being dented. Anecdotal reports suggest that ethnic minorities now make up around asixth of all new customers, says Mr Broom. The fastest-growing customer demographic is 35- to 44-year-olds. Another boost comes from affluent immigrants, who are keen to experience long, self-planned road trips in America. Mr Troiano's most recent big sale was to a rich Asian family.

房车行业协会（RVIA）的Kevin Broom表示：十年前，房车车主平均年龄在49岁，白人占90%以上。这样的结构对于未来而言不是好事，不过人们眼中过去的情况正在逐渐发生改观。Broom先生说，一些非正式报告显示：少数族裔已经占到新客户总数的六分之一左右。增长最快的客户群体是35-44岁之间的人士。另一个迅速增长的群体是经济状况良好的移民，这些人非常渴望亲身体验美国的长途自由行。Troiano先生最近的一大单就来自于一个富裕的亚裔家庭。

The industry hopes that its poor record with foreign sales—last year less than 1% of RVs produced domestically were shipped to foreign markets (excluding Canada)—may improve, 's government, for example, has pledged to build 2,000 campgrounds by 2020, up from an estimated 300 today, in a bid to promote domestic tourism, particularly to remote rural regions. Chinese firms such as Yutong Bus make RVs, but not of the quality that many Chinese want. The country imported 1,000 vehicles last year, over half of them American.

去年，国产房车出口海外市场（不包括加拿大）的比例还不到1%，面对海外销售的惨淡经营，业内希望今年出口销量也能有所增加。例如，中国政府承诺到2020年将建成2000个露营地，而目前这一数字估计只有300左右。此举旨在促进国内旅游业的发展，尤其是偏远农村地区的发展。宇通客车等中国企业也生产房车，但质量达不到许多中国人的要求。去年中国进口房车1000辆，一半以上为美国制造。

RV manufacturers are also marketing the notion that their motor homes can be commercial as well as leisure can allow travelling salesmen, businessmen and university-admissions officers to save onfood and hotel costs, for example, when they hit the road trying to recruit prospective new clients and students. The office, as well as home, can be wherever you park it.

房车制造商同时也在推销一种理念，即房车既可用于商业用途，也可用作休闲车辆。比如说，销售人员和商务人士出差寻找潜在客户，大学招生负责人外出招生，这时使用房车就能省下食宿费用。只消停下车来，处处办公处处家。