Appetite for destruction

毀滅的欲望

Food-delivery wars heat up

食品送餐業(yè)爭奪戰(zhàn)的升溫

Will winning the battle for locked-down Western stomachs ever translate into profits?

在本次于封鎖下西方市民的胃口而爭奪（市場）的競爭的贏家會轉(zhuǎn)之為利潤嗎？

?Jul 4th 2020 |

JOSé AVILLEZ, a Portuguese chef, has picked up two Michelin stars for his inventive takes on traditional dishes such as a pudding that daringly combines chocolate ganache with cuttlefish ink. On June 29th he experimented again: his Lisbon-based restaurant, Bairro do Avillez, started serving gourmands at home via Uber Eats.

葡萄牙廚師JOSé AVILLEZ憑借對傳統(tǒng)菜肴的創(chuàng)新創(chuàng)新獲得了米其林兩星，比如大膽地將巧克力甜漿和墨魚墨融合在一起的布丁。6月29日，他再次嘗試:他在里斯本的餐廳Bairro do Avillez開始通過Uber Eats為食客提供服務(wù)。

詞匯

Daringly/大膽地；毅然地

Ganache/摜奶油，奶油巧克力甜漿（奶油層裹在巧克力上或者奶油夾心）

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It joins the likes of London’s Hakkasan and Claro in Brooklyn, which before covid-19 would never have dreamed of relying on a service associated with burgers and pizza. In May Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s boss, said the recruitment of such upmarket restaurants would expand the industry.

它【Uber Eats平臺】加入了倫敦的客家人(Hakkasan，餐廳名)和布魯克林的克拉羅(Claro)等餐廳的行列，在新冠肺炎爆發(fā)之前，這些餐廳從未想過要依賴與漢堡和披薩相關(guān)的服務(wù)。今年5月，優(yōu)步的老板Dara Khosrowshahi表示，這種高端餐廳的招聘將擴(kuò)大該行業(yè)（漢堡、披薩之類的快餐）。

詞匯

Hakkasan/客家人

Upmarket/質(zhì)優(yōu)價高的；高級的

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The veteran is Just Eat Takeaway.com, an Anglo-Dutch firm that in June bulked up by buying Grubhub, an American one, for $7.3bn. Both offer online access to restaurants that for the most part already have delivery drivers (though each is also investing in its own fleet). The trio of later arrivals on the scene—Uber Eats and two American rivals, Postmates and DoorDash—rely instead on armies of gig-economy couriers.

那些老手們，例如吃快餐吧（Just Eat Takeaway.com），這家英荷合資公司今年6月以73億美元收購了美國餐廳公司Grubhub，從而壯大起來。兩家公司都在網(wǎng)上提供餐館服務(wù)，這些餐館大部分已經(jīng)配備了送餐司機(jī)(不過兩家公司也在投資自己的送餐車隊(duì))。后來出現(xiàn)的三家公司——uber Eats和兩家美國競爭對手Postmates和DoorDash——依靠的是一大批打零工的送餐員。

詞匯

Veteran/老手；富有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的人

bulk up/脹大；形成大數(shù)目

fleet/車隊(duì)，機(jī)群

trio/三人組；三件套

gig-economy/零工經(jīng)濟(jì)

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Uber seems bent on dominating the industry. On June 29th it reportedly offered $2.6bn to buy Postmates, which ranks fourth in America by revenue. The approach might relaunch plans for an initial public offering (IPO), which Postmates shelved last year after lukewarm interest from investors. At the time, food-delivery was becoming a poster-child for tech businesses whose footprint in the physical world meant that costs tended to grow as fast as revenues, or faster.

優(yōu)步似乎決心要主宰這個行業(yè)。據(jù)報(bào)道，6月29日，該公司出價26億美元收購在美國收入排名第四的Postmates。這種方式可能會重新啟動首次公開募股(IPO)的計(jì)劃。去年，由于投資者對IPO興趣冷淡，Postmates將其擱置。當(dāng)時，外賣正成為科技企業(yè)的典型代表，這些企業(yè)在現(xiàn)實(shí)世界的足跡意味著，成本的增長往往與收入的增長一樣快，甚至更快。

詞匯

Lukewarm/ ?冷淡的；微溫的；不溫不熱的

poster-child/榜樣，典型人物

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The pandemic has changed the mood again. Demand from locked-down consumers is surging. Grubhub recently reported revenue growth of 50% year on year, which may have accelerated in the past month or so. At Uber Eats, which operates in 45 countries, revenue in April was 89% higher than last year. In recent weeks the overall market has been expanding at rates above 100% in America, according to Mark Shmulik of Bernstein, a research firm. Despite continuing to lose money, DoorDash recently secured a valuation of $16bn, up from $12.7bn in late 2019.

疫情再次改變了人們的情緒。封鎖之下的消費(fèi)者的需求正在激增。Grubhub最近公布的收入同比增長了50%，而且在過去一個月左右的時間里可能有所加速。Uber Eats在45個國家開展業(yè)務(wù)，今年4月的收入比去年高出89%。據(jù)伯恩斯坦研究公司的Mark Shmulik稱，最近幾周，美國的整體市場以超過100%的速度擴(kuò)張。盡管持續(xù)虧損，DoorDash最近獲得了160億美元的估值，高于2019年底的127億美元。

詞匯

Valuation/評價，估價；資產(chǎn)估值

?

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Although sales are growing, profits remain elusive. Early last year the firms reined in spending on subsidies for consumers. Now strong demand has once again aroused hunger for market share. Grubhub’s profitability per order has duly dipped, according to Bernstein. Uber Eats is still losing an estimated $1.10 on each order, on average, though that is an improvement. Its $313m operating loss in the first quarter is some way from its ambition to achieve an operating margin of 30%.

雖然銷量在增長，但利潤仍然難以捉摸。去年年初，兩家公司控制了對消費(fèi)者的補(bǔ)貼。如今，強(qiáng)勁的需求再次引發(fā)了對市場份額的渴求。據(jù)伯恩斯坦(Bernstein)稱，Grubhub的每筆訂單盈利能力已經(jīng)適時下降。Uber Eats在每份訂單上平均仍虧損約1.10美元，不過這已經(jīng)有所改善。其第一季度3.13億美元的運(yùn)營虧損距離實(shí)現(xiàn)30%的運(yùn)營利潤率的目標(biāo)還有一段距離。

詞匯

Elusive/逃避的；難捉摸的；難懂的

Duly/充分地；按時地

Dipped/（使）下降，下沉

Can the numbers add up? It is too early to tell, says Mr Shmulik. Consolidation may reduce costs and, in time, allow higher prices. At the same time, however, the business’s newfound prominence is drawing the attention of trustbusters and politicians concerned about the treatment of couriers and independent restaurants that rely on them to reach customers. In June Britain’s competition authority waved through Amazon’s investment in Deliveroo, a British firm. But Uber’s earlier talks with Grubhub foundered partly on antitrust concerns that might not have arisen without all the attention. Investors must wait to see if meal-delivery’s sweet ingredients overpower its sour ones.

這些數(shù)字能加起來嗎?Shmulik先生說，現(xiàn)在下結(jié)論還為時過早。合并可以降低成本，并最終允許更高的價格。然而，與此同時，該業(yè)務(wù)的新突出表現(xiàn)引起了反壟斷者和政客的注意，他們擔(dān)心送餐員和依靠它們接觸顧客的獨(dú)立餐館的績效。今年6月，英國競爭監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)批準(zhǔn)了亞馬遜對一家英國公司Deliveroo的投資。但優(yōu)步早些時候與Grubhub的談判失敗，部分原因在于反壟斷擔(dān)憂，如果沒有這些關(guān)注，這種擔(dān)憂可能不會出現(xiàn)。投資者必須等著看送餐公司的有利成分是否壓倒了它的痛苦的部分。

詞匯

Prominence/突出；顯著；突出物

Trustbuster/反托拉斯法的執(zhí)行人（或機(jī)構(gòu)）【反壟斷法】

Courier/導(dǎo)游；情報(bào)員；送快信的人

Antitrust/反壟斷的