澳洲將推出熱薯?xiàng)l自動(dòng)販賣(mài)機(jī)

A Western Australian company has made a hot chip vending machine that deep fries frozen chips while you wait.

澳大利亞西部一家公司設(shè)計(jì)出一款熱薯?xiàng)l自動(dòng)販賣(mài)機(jī)，在顧客等候期間能自動(dòng)將冷凍薯?xiàng)l烤制成熱騰騰的薯?xiàng)l。

While the idea has occurred to many who have stared sadly at the closed sign of the local takeaway at 3am before stumbling home for a disappointing slice of toast, the successful execution took years of work.

凌晨三點(diǎn)，人們幽怨的盯一眼外賣(mài)餐館前暫時(shí)歇業(yè)的告示牌，而后踩著無(wú)力的腳步回家啃令人毫無(wú)胃口、索然無(wú)味的面包片時(shí)，腦海通常會(huì)閃過(guò)一個(gè)念頭：如果有一臺(tái)熱食自動(dòng)售賣(mài)機(jī)該多好，這種想法歷經(jīng)多年終于變成了現(xiàn)實(shí)。

It’s the latest venture of the Perth businessman Peter Malone, best known for his turn as managing director of collapsed telecommunications company New Tel, the $2.5bn business he founded with his best man in 1988.

這是澳大利亞珀斯城(Perth)商人彼得·馬隆(Peter Malone)最新的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)項(xiàng)目，其最為人熟知的身份是電信公司New Tel總經(jīng)理一職，這是他在1988年與其男儐相攜手建立的公司，在即將倒閉前，該公司曾有過(guò)25億美元的輝煌。

New Tel was publicly listed in 1999 and raised $150m from the market before its promise of being “the America Online of China” fell flat. When the company went into administration in 2002 it owed creditors almost $50m. Both Telstra and Optus were owed $10m.

New Tel于1999年上市，在其推行的“在中國(guó)實(shí)現(xiàn)與美國(guó)的自由通訊”計(jì)劃失敗之前，曾從市場(chǎng)中籌集到1.5億美元，2002年，公司因計(jì)劃失敗虧欠股東近5000萬(wàn)美元，改由政府接管。當(dāng)時(shí)澳大利亞電信公司(Telstra)和澳都斯公司(Optus )皆負(fù)債1000萬(wàn)美元。

Malone, who heads The Hot Chips Company, said the vending machine’s development began more than 10 years ago when his group of business associates began tracking failed attempts by other companies.

擔(dān)任熱薯?xiàng)l公司(The Hot Chips Company)執(zhí)行董事的馬隆表示，早在十多年前，當(dāng)其商業(yè)團(tuán)隊(duì)與其他公司失去監(jiān)管聯(lián)系時(shí)便開(kāi)始研發(fā)這款自動(dòng)販賣(mài)機(jī)。

He said their machine, which has just passed the trial stage and will start commercial production this year, fried the chips in a 10-litre vat of rice bran oil in the belly of the machine.

馬隆稱(chēng)，這款機(jī)器不久前剛通過(guò)試驗(yàn)階段，將于今年投入商業(yè)化生產(chǎn)，薯?xiàng)l會(huì)在含有10升米糠油的機(jī)體內(nèi)烤制。

The technology used in the final design, which relies on a robotic arm to catch the chips in a cup and then serve them up to the waiting customer, has only become available in recent years.

后期設(shè)計(jì)采用的技術(shù)通過(guò)機(jī)械手臂將薯?xiàng)l置于杯中，遞交給等候中的顧客。該技術(shù)是近年來(lái)才進(jìn)入實(shí)用階段的。

Malone suggested the chips could qualify for the Heart Foundation tick because they were fried in cholesterol-free oil. He said the risk of food poisoning was minimal because “potatoes are very much an inert product”.

馬隆認(rèn)為，這種薯?xiàng)l會(huì)得到心臟基金會(huì)(Heart Foundation)的認(rèn)證，因?yàn)樗遣捎貌缓懝檀嫉氖秤糜图逯贫傻?。他稱(chēng)食物中毒的可能性非常小，因?yàn)?ldquo;土豆具有化學(xué)惰性。”

The potato selection was no easy task. Stephen Bendotti is a director of the potato processing company Bendotti Exporters and WA Chip, which supplies the chips. He said it had taken a lot of trial and error to make frozen chips that would cook properly within minutes.

挑選土豆絕非易事。其供應(yīng)商是從事土豆加工和出口的本多蒂出口公司(Bendotti Exporters)和WA 薯?xiàng)l公司(WA Chip)，擔(dān)任這兩家公司董事的史蒂芬·本多蒂(Stephen Bendotti)表示，為制作出可在數(shù)分鐘內(nèi)烤制而成的冷凍薯?xiàng)l，他們進(jìn)行了很多試驗(yàn)，也經(jīng)歷了不少失敗。

The exact makeup of the chips is a closely guarded secret, but Bendotti said they were likely to be more uniform than ordinary ones. “It has to be the perfect size and length so it doesn’t get lodged in the machine,” he said.

薯?xiàng)l實(shí)際形狀仍是一個(gè)機(jī)密，但據(jù)本多蒂透露，它們很有可能比普通薯?xiàng)l具有更標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的外形。本多蒂說(shuō)，“它們的形狀和長(zhǎng)度必須很統(tǒng)一，所以并不存放在機(jī)器里。”

Bendotti Exporters has had a working vending machine in its Manjimup headquarters, about 300km south of Perth, for several years. It’s a favourite with staff and is used to give demonstrations to potato growers.

早在數(shù)年前，本多蒂土豆出口公司位于曼吉馬普(Manjimup)的總部(距離珀斯以南約3萬(wàn)公里)就有一臺(tái)投入使用的自動(dòng)售賣(mài)機(jī)，不僅深受員工喜愛(ài)，還能為土豆種植商提供樣本。

“It’s like a mini fish and chip shop,” Bendotti said. “It’s got a freezer at the top, a fryer in the middle and you collect your chips at the bottom. It’s about the size of a Coke machine.”

“它就像一家售賣(mài)魚(yú)和薯?xiàng)l的小型商店，”本多蒂解釋道，“上層是冷凍柜，中層是烤箱，顧客從下層拿出鍋的薯?xiàng)l，如可樂(lè)售賣(mài)機(jī)一般大小。”

The machines are available for public use in two service stations in Adelaide and at the Ibis Budget airport hotel in Perth.

如今在位于阿德萊德城(Adelaide)和珀斯機(jī)場(chǎng)宜必思經(jīng)濟(jì)酒店(Ibis Budget airport hotel)的兩個(gè)服務(wù)站均設(shè)有這款販賣(mài)機(jī)供公眾使用。

Malone said the company planned to manufacture 200 of them by the end of the year, with production increasing to 1,000 machines in 2016 and 5,000 in 2017. He said they would probably be sold into service station chains and should be available throughout Australia within 12 months. The next step would be taking on the international market.

馬隆稱(chēng)，公司計(jì)劃在今年年底前制造出200臺(tái)這樣的機(jī)器，并計(jì)劃于2016年與2017年分別增產(chǎn)至1000臺(tái)和5000臺(tái)。他表示，機(jī)子可能售往連鎖服務(wù)站，因而可在一年內(nèi)遍布整個(gè)澳大利亞，而下一個(gè)目標(biāo)就是進(jìn)軍國(guó)際市場(chǎng)。

“This will be bigger [than New Tel],” Malone said. “It’s popular worldwide. We don’t need to go and tell people that a chip is something that they should eat.”

“公司規(guī)模將比New Tel更大，”馬隆說(shuō)道，“它會(huì)走紅全球，因?yàn)槲覀儾恍枰嬖V人們，薯?xiàng)l是種能吃的東西。”

Vocabulary

vending: 販賣(mài)的

takeaway: 外賣(mài)食品

stumble: 蹣跚

cholesterol: 膽固醇

inert: [化學(xué)] 惰性的