英国卫报:小冰块下的大生意(8)

A marketing¹ strategy that could be crudely summarised as "hope for a hot summer" had served The Ice Co perfectly² well for decades.

一种可以粗略概括为“炎热夏天的希望”的营销策略几十年来一直很适合The Ice Co。

But in a market with informed and discerning consumers, sitting back and relying on a nationwide distribution strategy

但是，在一个消费者信息灵通、眼光敏锐的市场上，仅仅依靠全国范围内的分销策略——

that got identical 2kg bags containing identical cubes in front of more shoppers than anyone else in the market was not going to be enough.

将装着相同方块的2公斤袋装冰块送到市场上更多的顾客面前——是不够的。

Keeping tabs on what the market wants isn't always a hardship for The Ice Co, as Polly Metcalfe admitted: "We're quite a young group – we all enjoy drinking."

对The Ice Co来说掌握市场的需求并不总是一件难事，正如波莉·梅特卡夫所承认的那样：“我们是一个相当年轻的群体——我们都喜欢喝酒。”

The enjoyment³ of an occasional drink – and the ice within it – flows through the culture of The Ice Co.

偶尔喝一杯酒的乐趣——还有里面的冰块——都体现了The Ice Co公司的文化。

Unlimited⁴ free ice is a perk⁵ granted to all employees, a reminder⁶ that abundant ice is the best kind of ice.

所有员工都可以享受无限免费冰块的福利，这提醒人们丰富的冰才是最好的冰。

Employees have been known to quiz bartenders on where they get their ice ("none of us have pulled this way", admitted Ginny Woolhouse, the company's head of marketing).

众所周知员工会向调酒师询问冰块从哪里来(该公司的营销主管金妮·伍尔豪斯承认：“我们并没有要求员工这样做”)。

It is not unusual for team members on holiday to send photos of their drinks to the group WhatsApp, soliciting⁷ feedback on ice purity, quality, size.

团队成员常常会在度假时将他们的饮料照片发到WhatsApp群里，征求对冰块纯度、质量、大小的反馈意见。

The ice from most holiday destinations visited by the team in the early 2010s looked more or less like Ice Co ice: domed⁸ cylinders⁹, a little jagged at the edges, with a hole at the centre.

2010年代初，团队访问的大多数度假地的冰块看起来或多或少都像Ice Co的冰块：圆筒状，边缘有点锯齿状，中间有个洞。

The ice from Spain, though, was different – "supersized cubes, really premium¹⁰, like nothing we'd ever seen before", recalled Woolhouse.

然而，来自西班牙的冰却不同——“超大尺寸的冰块，真的很珍贵，我们从未见过这样的冰块，”伍尔豪斯回忆说。

Mass-market packaged ice (the stuff that goes into Party Ice bags) is formed in supercooled cylinders that are then broken down into smaller chunks¹¹; a high-speed, high-yield process that prioritises quantity over quality.

大众市场上的包装冰(装入“冰之狂欢”袋子里的东西)是在极冷的圆柱体中形成的，然后被分解成更小的块状，一种高速、高产量的加工过程，注重数量而不注重质量。

But The Ice Co also already possessed¹² a small number of Italian-made Scotsman machines, which worked in a totally different fashion, by spraying water upwards¹³ into an inverted¹⁴ mould.

但是The Ice Co公司已经拥有了一小批意大利制造的斯科茨曼机器，它们的工作方式完全不同，将水向上喷射到倒置的模具中。

In a Scotsman, gravity ensures that any sediment¹⁵ or impurities¹⁶ in the water fall out of the finished cube, resulting in a noticeably superior product.

在斯科茨曼机器中，重力可以确保水中的任何沉淀物或杂质从成品立方体中脱落，从而产生明显优越的产品。

By passing pure spring water into a Scotsman, The Ice Co hoped it could produce a dead ringer for the cubes served in Spain.

通过将纯净的泉水注入斯科茨曼机器内，The Ice Co希望能够生产出与西班牙的冰块完全相同的产品，

The result was glassy, massy and dense¹⁷. They called it the Super Cube.

结果造出了呈玻璃状、块头大、密度高的冰块。他们称之为超级立方体。

The Super Cube is aptly named: it is an absolute unit, at least three times larger than a conventional cube.

超级立方体的名字很贴切：它是一个绝对单位，至少比传统的立方体要大三倍。

And the ebullient¹⁸ explosion of the Spanish-style gin-tonic¹⁹, served in a copa glass the size of a goldfish bowl filled to the brim with ice, represented a clear opportunity.

西班牙风格的杜松子酒爆发力十足，盛在金鱼缸大小、满溢冰块的长脚酒杯里，这显然是一个好机会。

The Super Cube was a natural companion to the tsunami²⁰ of premium gins and tonics²¹ hitting the market as a trend became a craze in the 2010s.

21世纪10年代，优质杜松子酒和奎宁水风靡市场，成为一种潮流，超级立方体是这股潮流的自然伴生。

Today, The Ice Co is the official partner of both The Gin to My Tonic (the UK's largest gin-centric events business, with dozens of festivals in cities across the UK per year) and Craft Gin Club,

如今，The Ice Co是The Gin to My Tonic(英国最大的以杜松子酒为中心的活动企业，每年在英国各地的城市举办几十个节日)和克拉夫特杜松子酒俱乐部的官方合作伙伴，

the UK's No 1 gin subscription²² service, which sends its 75,000 members a bottle of craft gin plus tonic, garnishes²³ and snacks every month

克拉夫特杜松子酒俱乐部是英国排名第一的杜松子酒订阅服务，它每个月都会给它的75000名会员送一瓶手工金酒加奎宁水，还有配菜和零食

(ice is not included, though the Super Cube's distinctive²⁴ profile is everywhere on their website).

（冰块不包括在内，尽管超级立方体的独特外形在他们的网站上随处可见）。

1 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

2 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

3 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

4 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

5 perk   

n.额外津贴；赏钱；小费；

参考例句：

• His perks include a car provided by the firm.他的额外津贴包括公司提供的一辆汽车。
• And the money is,of course,a perk.当然钱是额外津贴。

6 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

7 soliciting   

v.恳求( solicit的现在分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求

参考例句：

• A prostitute was soliciting on the street. 一名妓女正在街上拉客。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• China Daily is soliciting subscriptions. 《中国日报》正在征求订户。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 domed   

adj. 圆屋顶的, 半球形的, 拱曲的 动词dome的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• I gazed up at the domed ceiling arching overhead. 我抬头凝望着上方弧形的穹顶。
• His forehead domed out in a curve. 他的前额呈弯曲的半球形。

9 cylinders   

n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物

参考例句：

• They are working on all cylinders to get the job finished. 他们正在竭尽全力争取把这工作干完。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• That jeep has four cylinders. 那辆吉普车有4个汽缸。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

11 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

12 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

13 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

14 inverted   

adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Only direct speech should go inside inverted commas. 只有直接引语应放在引号内。
• Inverted flight is an acrobatic manoeuvre of the plane. 倒飞是飞机的一种特技动作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 sediment   

n.沉淀，沉渣，沉积(物)

参考例句：

• The sediment settled and the water was clear.杂质沉淀后，水变清了。
• Sediment begins to choke the channel's opening.沉积物开始淤塞河道口。

16 impurities   

不纯( impurity的名词复数 )； 不洁； 淫秽； 杂质

参考例句：

• A filter will remove most impurities found in water. 过滤器会滤掉水中的大部分杂质。
• Oil is refined to remove naturally occurring impurities. 油经过提炼去除天然存在的杂质。

17 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

18 ebullient   

adj.兴高采烈的，奔放的

参考例句：

• He was ebullient over the reception of his novel.他因小说获好评而兴高采烈。
• She wrote the ebullient letter when she got back to her flat.她一回到自己的寓所,就写了那封热情洋溢的信。

19 tonic   

n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的

参考例句：

• It will be marketed as a tonic for the elderly.这将作为老年人滋补品在市场上销售。
• Sea air is Nature's best tonic for mind and body.海上的空气是大自然赋予的对人们身心的最佳补品。

20 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

21 tonics   

n.滋补品( tonic的名词复数 )；主音；奎宁水；浊音

参考例句：

• I think you have a prejudice against tonics. 我认你对补药有偏见。 来自互联网
• Two gin and tonics, please. 请来两杯杜松子酒加奎宁水。 来自互联网

22 subscription   

n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方）

参考例句：

• We paid a subscription of 5 pounds yearly.我们按年度缴纳5英镑的订阅费。
• Subscription selling bloomed splendidly.订阅销售量激增。

23 garnishes   

n.（为色香味而添加的）装饰菜( garnish的名词复数 )；装饰，装饰品v.给（上餐桌的食物）加装饰( garnish的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Garnishes are terrific for making good drinks look even better. 装饰可以让好的饮品看上去更好，却不能让挽救不好的饮料。 来自互联网
• A slender skewer, usually ornamented at the top, used decoratively, especially in serving garnishes. 一种细长的叉状物，通常顶部有点缀，用作装饰，尤其在食品装饰中。 来自互联网

24 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。