VOA健康报道2023 高价精品水市场增长迅速（在线收听）

高价精品水市场增长迅速

At a meeting in April in Athens, Greece, drink experts looked carefully at the liquid in their glasses.

今年4月，在希腊雅典举行的一次会议上，饮料专家仔细观察了他们杯子里的液体。

They held them up to the light.

他们把杯子举到光线下。

They tasted and, sometimes, spit them out into containers.

他们品尝，有时还会把它们吐到容器里。

And they discussed the mineral content and purity.

他们讨论了矿物含量和纯度。

But these experts were not tasting wine.

但这些专家并不是在品酒。

Instead, they were tasting "fine water."

相反，他们品尝的是“精品水”。

The experts are members of the Fine Water Society.

这些专家是精品水协会的成员。

They had come together in Athens for the yearly tasting competition.

他们聚集在雅典参加一年一度的品水比赛。

Their activity reflects the growing market for luxury water—with some bottles costing over $100 per liter.

他们的活动反映了奢侈水市场的规模在不断扩大，一些瓶装水的价格每升超过100美元。

Companies collect the so-called "fine water" from sources such as volcanic rock in Hawaii, melting ice from glaciers in Norway, and drops of mist from forests in the Amazon or the island of Tasmania.

公司从诸如夏威夷的火山岩、挪威冰川融化的冰以及亚马逊或塔斯马尼亚岛森林中的雾滴等来源地收集所谓的“精品水”。

The most costly water is sold in bottles made with special glass painted with artwork.

最昂贵的水是用特殊的玻璃瓶装的，瓶身上绘有艺术作品。

At their meeting, Fine Water Society members learned about the environments from which the water is collected.

在会议上，精品水协会的成员了解了水源的环境。

And they compare the total dissolved solids, or TDS.

他们比较了总溶解固体。

Waters with a low TDS are like rain that has not yet touched the earth.

总溶解固体浓度低的水就像还没有落到地面上的雨水。

Those with high TDS — such as Vichy mineral water from hot springs in France and Catalonia, in northeastern Spain — have high mineral content that may include calcium, magnesium, potassium or sodium, among others.

总溶解固体浓度高的水——比如来自法国温泉和西班牙东北部加泰罗尼亚的维希矿泉水——矿物质含量很高，可能包括钙、镁、钾或钠等。

A few restaurants in countries such as Spain and the United States now have menus that match food with certain kinds of fine water.

西班牙和美国等国的一些餐馆如今的菜单上会将食物与特定种类的精品水搭配。

Water with high TDS, for example, might go with beef.

例如，总溶解固体浓度高的水可能会与牛肉搭配。

Low TDS, more like rainwater, might go with fish.

总溶解固体浓度低，更像是雨水，可能会与鱼搭配。

Ganesh Iyer is an Indian businessman who has worked in the beverage, or drink, industry for years.

Ganesh Iyer是一位在饮料行业工作多年的印度商人。

After he saw increased interest in non-alcoholic drinks, he studied to become a drink expert, also known as a water sommelier.

在看到人们对非酒精饮料的兴趣与日俱增后，他学习成为一名饮料专家，也被称为品水师。

He is now the managing partner of Veen Waters India.

他现在是Veen Waters India公司的管理合伙人。

The company bottles natural mineral water in the Himalayan country of Bhutan and sends it by truck to India.

该公司在喜马拉雅国家不丹将天然矿泉水装瓶，然后用卡车运往印度。

Veen Waters is mostly served in costly hotels and restaurants.

Veen Waters主要为高档酒店和餐厅供应矿泉水。

It costs $6 a bottle, about a day's pay for an Indian laborer.

每瓶矿泉水的价格是6美元，大约是一名印度工人一天的工资。

Veen Waters is exporting about 240,000 bottles of water into India each month.

Veen Waters每月向印度出口约24万瓶水。

Iyer thinks the company has reached only about 10 percent of the possible market so far.

Iyer认为，到目前为止，该公司只占据了10%左右的潜在市场。

The story of water, however, is very different for many people in India.

然而，对于许多印度人来说，水的故事却截然不同。

The World Bank reports that India is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world.

世界银行报告称，印度是世界上水资源最紧张的国家之一。

To get more water, the country has built huge plants to remove salt from seawater.

为了获得更多的水，该国建造了大型工厂来去除海水中的盐分。

Other countries, including Singapore, are collecting and cleaning up storm and wastewater to try to solve their water problems.

包括新加坡在内的其他国家正在收集和清理暴风雨和废水，试图解决他们的水问题。

But these kinds of solutions are only used in some places, and the increasing need for water could lead to more disagreements.

但这些解决方案只在一些地方使用，日益增长的水需求可能会导致更多的分歧。

At the same time, those in the fine water industry see their activity as part of an effort to protect the environment and its clean water.

与此同时，精品水行业的人将他们的活动视为其保护环境及清洁水所付出的努力的一部分。

Michael Mascha is a co-founder of the Fine Water Society.

迈克尔·马沙是精品水协会的联合创始人。

He told The Associated Press, "I think what we do is we raise the awareness of water — and if you cherish something, you're more likely to protect it."

他告诉美联社：“我认为我们所做的是提高人们对水的认识，如果你珍视某种东西，你就更有可能保护它。”