Appetite for destruction

毁灭的欲望

Food-delivery wars heat up

食品送餐业争夺战的升温

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

在本次于封锁下西方市民的胃口而争夺（市场）的竞争的赢家会转之为利润吗？

 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.

葡萄牙厨师JOSé AVILLEZ凭借对传统菜肴的创新创新获得了米其林两星，比如大胆地将巧克力甜浆和墨鱼墨融合在一起的布丁。6月29日，他再次尝试:他在里斯本的餐厅Bairro do Avillez开始通过Uber Eats为食客提供服务。

词汇

Daringly/大胆地；毅然地

Ganache/掼奶油，奶油巧克力甜浆（奶油层裹在巧克力上或者奶油夹心）

 

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平台】加入了伦敦的客家人(Hakkasan，餐厅名)和布鲁克林的克拉罗(Claro)等餐厅的行列，在新冠肺炎爆发之前，这些餐厅从未想过要依赖与汉堡和披萨相关的服务。今年5月，优步的老板Dara Khosrowshahi表示，这种高端餐厅的招聘将扩大该行业（汉堡、披萨之类的快餐）。

词汇

Hakkasan/客家人

Upmarket/质优价高的；高级的

 

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.

那些老手们，例如吃快餐吧（Just Eat Takeaway.com），这家英荷合资公司今年6月以73亿美元收购了美国餐厅公司Grubhub，从而壮大起来。两家公司都在网上提供餐馆服务，这些餐馆大部分已经配备了送餐司机(不过两家公司也在投资自己的送餐车队)。后来出现的三家公司——uber Eats和两家美国竞争对手Postmates和DoorDash——依靠的是一大批打零工的送餐员。

词汇

Veteran/老手；富有经验的人

bulk up/胀大；形成大数目

fleet/车队，机群

trio/三人组；三件套

gig-economy/零工经济

 

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.

优步似乎决心要主宰这个行业。据报道，6月29日，该公司出价26亿美元收购在美国收入排名第四的Postmates。这种方式可能会重新启动首次公开募股(IPO)的计划。去年，由于投资者对IPO兴趣冷淡，Postmates将其搁置。当时，外卖正成为科技企业的典型代表，这些企业在现实世界的足迹意味着，成本的增长往往与收入的增长一样快，甚至更快。

词汇

Lukewarm/  冷淡的；微温的；不温不热的

poster-child/榜样，典型人物

 

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.

疫情再次改变了人们的情绪。封锁之下的消费者的需求正在激增。Grubhub最近公布的收入同比增长了50%，而且在过去一个月左右的时间里可能有所加速。Uber Eats在45个国家开展业务，今年4月的收入比去年高出89%。据伯恩斯坦研究公司的Mark Shmulik称，最近几周，美国的整体市场以超过100%的速度扩张。尽管持续亏损，DoorDash最近获得了160亿美元的估值，高于2019年底的127亿美元。

词汇

Valuation/评价，估价；资产估值

 

 

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%.

虽然销量在增长，但利润仍然难以捉摸。去年年初，两家公司控制了对消费者的补贴。如今，强劲的需求再次引发了对市场份额的渴求。据伯恩斯坦(Bernstein)称，Grubhub的每笔订单盈利能力已经适时下降。Uber Eats在每份订单上平均仍亏损约1.10美元，不过这已经有所改善。其第一季度3.13亿美元的运营亏损距离实现30%的运营利润率的目标还有一段距离。

词汇

Elusive/逃避的；难捉摸的；难懂的

Duly/充分地；按时地

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.

这些数字能加起来吗?Shmulik先生说，现在下结论还为时过早。合并可以降低成本，并最终允许更高的价格。然而，与此同时，该业务的新突出表现引起了反垄断者和政客的注意，他们担心送餐员和依靠它们接触顾客的独立餐馆的绩效。今年6月，英国竞争监管机构批准了亚马逊对一家英国公司Deliveroo的投资。但优步早些时候与Grubhub的谈判失败，部分原因在于反垄断担忧，如果没有这些关注，这种担忧可能不会出现。投资者必须等着看送餐公司的有利成分是否压倒了它的痛苦的部分。

词汇

Prominence/突出；显著；突出物

Trustbuster/反托拉斯法的执行人（或机构）【反垄断法】

Courier/导游；情报员；送快信的人

Antitrust/反垄断的