As if life in the eurozone’s economically embattled periphery werenot bad enough, the coffee culture emblematic of southernEurope is under siege. Italians are having to cut back on theircappuccinos and espressos and Spaniards are dropping theircortados, fuelling a sharp fall in wholesale coffee prices.

　　陷入经济困境的欧元区似乎日子过得还不够苦，连咖啡这一南欧的文化象征也受到殃及。意大利人不得不削减卡布奇诺和意式浓咖啡的支出，西班牙人对他们的Cortado咖啡忍痛割爱，导致咖啡批发价大幅下跌。

　　The coffee industry has long seen demand for the drink as constant, but now consumption percapita is down in Italy and Spain to levels last seen five to six years ago, largely because of thesovereign debt crisis.

　　咖啡行业一直认为该饮料具有稳定的需求，但现在意大利和西班牙的人均消费量已经降低到五、六年前的水平，很大程度上是由于主权债务危机。

　　The cost of the high quality arabica coffee in New York, the global benchmark, is down 40 percent from a 34-year high set last year to $1.75 a pound. Arabica prices last year surged to $3.089 a pound after Colombia, the largest producer of high quality beans, had a poor harvestdue to bad weather.

　　作为全球基准的纽约高品质阿拉比卡咖啡价格去年曾创下34年来的最高值，但现已下跌40%，至每磅1.75美元。去年，由于高品质咖啡豆的最大生产国哥伦比亚遭遇恶劣气候，收成不佳，阿拉比卡咖啡的价格曾飙升至每磅3.089美元。

　　In Italy, Europe’s second-biggest importer of coffee by volume, demand fell last year to 5.68 kilograms per person, the lowest in six years, according to the London-based International CoffeeOrganisation, the group that represents the big producing and consuming countries.

　　代表主要生产国和消费国、位于伦敦的国际咖啡组织(International Coffee Organisation)称，在咖啡进口量列欧洲第二的意大利，去年的需求降至每人5.68千克，为6年来新低。

　　“The four-year economic downturn is hitting the amount of coffee Italians drink,” said AlessandroPolojac, president of Italy’s industry association Comitato Italiano Caffé and chief executive of theTrieste-based coffee trader Imperator.

　　“4年的经济低迷影响了意大利人的咖啡饮用量，”意大利咖啡委员会(Comitato Italiano Caffé)主席、的里雅斯特(Trieste)咖啡贸易商Imperator首席执行官亚历山德罗 波洛贾奇(Alessandro Polojac)表示。

　　The story is strikingly different in less distressed parts of the eurozone. In Germany and France, Europe’s other leading coffee importers, consumption is rising strongly. Spain, however, the fifth-largest European importer and another country hard hit like Italy by the crisis, has seen per capitaconsumption back at 2007 levels.

　　在衰退程度较低的欧元区国家则是另外一副光景。在欧洲的另外两大咖啡进口国——德国和法国，消费量正在强劲走高。然而，在欧洲第五大咖啡进口国、受危机影响程度与意大利相仿的西班牙，人均消费量已经跌回2007年水平。

　　The impact of the downturn is compounding the negative effect of new technologies, including thesingle-portion coffees such as Nespresso, which cut down on coffee wastage.

　　经济低迷的影响正加剧新技术（包括单次冲泡的Nespresso）的负面影响，这些技术减少了咖啡浪费。

　　Mediterraneans are drinking more coffee at home, said Max Fabian, chief executive of Demus, anItalian decaffeinated coffee producer. “A lot of consumption was out-of-home which wasexpensive, but people have switched,” he said.

　　意大利脱咖啡因咖啡生产商Demus首席执行官麦克斯 法比安(Max Fabian)表示，地中海居民现在更多的是在家中饮用咖啡。他表示：“以前很多消费都在家外进行，费用昂贵，但人们改变了做法。”

　　The shift to brewing coffee at home has also prompted consumers to opt for cheaper blends, witha lower content of premium arabica beans. In turn, demand for lower-quality robusta beans, which have a bitter taste, has increased.

　　转向在家中煮咖啡的做法，还促使消费者选择更廉价的混合咖啡，其中高品质阿拉比卡咖啡豆的含量较少。因此，市场对质量较低味道较苦的罗布斯塔咖啡豆的需求有所增加。