星巴克终于挑战意大利市场

星巴克终于挑战意大利市场

尽管门店遍布全球，但是面对意大利本地根深蒂固的咖啡文化，星巴克这一战恐怕不好打，要知道，如果没有意大利，就没有现在的星巴克。正是星巴克总裁霍华德·舒尔茨1983年的米兰之旅，成就了他如今的“咖啡王国”。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

stiff 严厉的[stɪf]

distinctive 有特色的[dɪ'stɪŋ(k)tɪv]

Euromonitor 欧睿国际（信息咨询公司）

tailor 剪裁['teɪlə]

fare 经营[feə]

franchiser 经销商['fræntʃaɪzə]

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Starbucks takes the Americano to the home of caffè （473words）

By Lindsay Whipp in Chicago

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Starbucks is taking on Italy at its own game: coffee.

The American chain is to open its first shop in Milan next year, fulfilling what chief executive Howard Schultz called a 30-year dream.

The long wait before entering the country, despite opening thousands of shops elsewhere across Europe, highlights the stiff competition the Seattle-based company can expect in the home of the espresso.

McDonald’s McCafe brand operates in the country, but it remains small in terms of market share. Italy’s distinctive coffee culture is based around independent cafés and bars, which account for nearly 90 per cent of the market, according to Euromonitor.

“The dream of the company always has been to sometime complete the circle and open in Italy, but we haven’t been ready,” said Mr Schultz in a statement on Sunday. His own experiences in Italian coffee bars inspired the Starbucks coffee shop concept, he explained.

Starbucks is working with Percassi, the company that partnered with Benetton for 30 years, brought Zara to the Italian market and has worked with a string of American brands including Nike, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. It also runs Kiko, a make-up company.

Antonio Percassi, the company’s founder and president, acknowledged the tricky nature of opening a coffee chain in his home market.

“We know that we are going to face a unique challenge with the opening of the first Starbucks store in Italy, the country of coffee, and we are confident that Italian people are ready to live the Starbucks experience, as already occurs in many other markets,” Mr Percassi said.

Starbucks said that “espresso will clearly be star of the show” in Italy, but that it had not yet settled the menu. “We plan to tailor our offerings to the Italian customer in a way that will demonstrate the respect and learning we’ve acquired” in Italy, a spokeswoman said.

Starbucks’ move comes on the tail of another US chain attempting to bring an American interpretation of classic Italian fare to the market. Last October Domino’s Pizza announced its intention to open in Italy.

As with Starbucks, Dominos emphasised that its pizzas would be customised to fit with Italian sensibilities, with locally-sourced ingredients and promising “ultimately a local pizza menu”. Its outlets will be operated by a local master franchiser.

Starbucks, which is planning about 1,800 net store openings globally in fiscal 2016, has 21,000 coffee shops across the world. However, there have been bumps on the way, and it has not met with success in every market. In 2008 it closed most of its stores in Australia, leaving just 25.

Italy is one of the largest consumers of coffee in the EU, which in itself is the largest importer of coffee beans in the world, but being one of the most competitive means Starbucks has a big job on its hands.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1. Where is the Starbucks’ first shop in Italy?

a. Rome

b. Venice

c. Florence

d. Milan

2. What kind of coffee do most Italian like?

a. Espresso

b. Latte

c. Americano

d. Cappuccino

3. Which one is not mentioned as Percassi’s partner into Italian market?

a. Starbucks

b. Zara

c. McCafe

d. Nike

4. Where did Starbucks closed most of its stores in 2008?

a. Australia

b. China

c. UK

d. Norway

[1] 答案 d. Milan

解释：星巴克宣布将在2017年在米兰开设第一家在意大利的门店。

[2] 答案 a. Espresso

解释：意式浓缩咖啡Espresso是大多意大利人喜爱的。星巴克主打的美式咖啡Americano是Espresso改造而来。

[3] 答案 c. McCafe

解释：星巴克在意大利的本地合作伙伴选择了零售巨头 Percassi，Percassi 将负责整体运营和对店铺的所有权。

[4] 答案 a. Australia

解释：2008年星巴克关闭了澳大利亚的大部分门店，只留下25个。