(接上文)
Rising disposable incomes and public anxiety about the safety of tap water, which is unfit to drink in most of China, have fuelled demand among Chinese for the bottled variety. Consumption per person of bottled water rose from 41 litres in 2014 to 59 litres in 2019, according to data from Mintel, a market-research firm. Americans, by comparison, guzzled an average of 141 litres last year. That suggests Chinese bottlers still have plenty of room for growth, not least because tap water in America is (typically) potable.
disposable 意思是「可支配的」,disposable income 就是指「可支配收入」;這個詞還有一個意思是「一次性的」,比如disposable chopsticks 就是指「一次性筷子」。
tap water 字面上是tap(水龍頭)+water(水),也就是指「自來水」。
unfit 意思是「不合適的,不適宜的」,常用的搭配是be unfit for sth./to do sth
其反義詞是fit
fuel 用作動詞,本意是「給……提供燃料」,引申為「增加,加強」
variety 意思是「種類」,其形容詞是various
litre 就是指我們所說的容量單位:「升」
guzzle 意思是「狂飲,猛喝」,在這裡形容美國人喝的水量之大。
potable 意思是「可飲用的,適於飲用的」
Nongfu Spring is the runaway industry leader. It accounted for 29% of the volume sold in China in 2019. Foreign brands such as FIJI Water, Evian (owned by Danone) and Aquafina (part of PepsiCo) are easily spotted in many Chinese supermarkets. But none has a market share greater than 6.5% ,reckons Mintel.
runaway 意思是「迅速的,難以控制的」,這裡是形容農夫山泉發展迅速。
account for意思是「佔(比)」
volume 意思是「量;額」,比如 sales volume 就是指「銷售額」
spot 用作動詞,意思是「看見,注意到」
market share 意思是「市場份額,市場佔有率」
reckon 意思是「認為;想」
One reason for Nongfu’s success is its effort to cater to all market segments. Stingy folk can buy a mass-market 380ml-plastic bottle for as little as 1.5 yuan ($0.22).The well-heeled may opt for the glass-bottled version, which comes with 「award-winning」 designs and retails for 30-45 yuan. In between you can get a lithiumrich liquid which is claimed to benefit the nervous system. Total revenues across Nongfu’s waters increased by 42% between 2017 and 2019, to 14.3bn yuan. Gross margins held steady at an impressive 60%.
cater to 是個詞組,意思是「滿足需要,迎合」,與cater for 意思相近。
segment 意思是「部分」,market segment 是指「細分市場」
stingy 意思是「小氣的,吝嗇的」folk 意思是「人們」
mass-market 意思是「大眾市場」
well-heeled 意思是「富有的」,與前文「stingy」相照應。
opt 意思是「選擇」,常跟for搭配;其名詞是option
retail 意思是「零售」
gross 意思是「總的,毛的」;GDP的全稱就是「gross domestic product」
margin 意思是「利潤率」,gross margin 就是指「毛利」;當然margin還有「頁邊空白」的意思。
steady 意思是「穩定的」