中国需求救活一家英国奶粉厂

It is a familiar story: a small town, a big factory, overseas owners and job cuts, resulting in another tear in the social fabric of an English community. Except in Kendal, on the edge of the Lake District, the ending has been rewritten.

这是一个人们熟悉的故事：一个小镇，一家大工厂，海外所有者，裁员，结果是一个英国社区的社会网络再次被撕裂。但位于英国湖区边上的肯德尔(Kendal)是例外，结局已被改写。

Heinz was about to shut the powdered baby milk plant that had sustained hundreds of Kendal’s working families as well as infants worldwide for 50 years. An Irish entrepreneur bought it, invested millions, hired extra staff and created new brands. As a result Kendamil has joined Kendal Mint cake on shop shelves.

美国跨国公司亨氏(Heinz)原本要关闭肯德尔的婴儿奶粉工厂，50年来，这家工厂维系着肯德尔数百个工薪家庭以及全球婴儿的生活。一位爱尔兰企业家收购了这家工厂，投资数百万英镑，聘用更多员工并缔造了新品牌。于是，康多蜜儿(Kendamil)奶粉与肯德尔薄荷蛋糕(Kendal Mint)一道出现在了商店货架上。

Ross McMahon, 52, a food scientist, had worked in Asia and spotted a thirst for infant formula. Contaminated milk made almost 300,000 babies ill in China in 2008, killing several. The country switched to imports and British-made products are among the most highly trusted.

52岁的食品学家罗斯•麦克马洪(Ross McMahon)曾在亚洲工作过，他发现了人们对婴幼儿配方奶粉的渴求。2008年，受污染的奶粉导致中国近30万婴儿患病，多名幼儿死亡。中国转向进口奶粉，英国产的奶粉是最受信赖的奶粉之一。

Mr McMahon could not believe his luck. After months of negotiations he persuaded Heinz to sell to him in 2015. He will not disclose the price but admits it was cheap; it would have cost the US multinational £6m to close it. Heinz bought the facility from Boots in 1998 for £94m, he says. It was built by GlaxoSmithKline to make its Farley’s range in 1962.

麦克马洪无法相信他会有这样的好运。在经过数月的谈判后，2015年，他说服亨氏将肯德尔工厂出售给他。他不愿披露价格，但他承认价格很便宜，原本亨氏要花费600万英镑关闭这家工厂。他说，1998年，亨氏以9400万英镑从Boots手中收购了这家工厂。它是在1962年由葛兰素史克(GlaxoSmithKline, GSK)为生产Farley产品系列而建的。

There were 88 workers left when Mr McMahon bought the plant, after Heinz laid off 170 people in four rounds of redundancies in the previous years.

在麦克马洪收购这家工厂时，还剩88名员工，此前几年，亨氏在4轮裁员中裁掉了170名员工。

Mr McMahon’s biggest coup was to gain Chinese accreditation for Kendamil. The factory is one of only 75 in the world allowed to export products there.

麦克马洪的最大壮举是获得了康多蜜儿的中国认证。这家工厂是全球仅有的75家具备对华出口同类产品资格的工厂之一。

China now accounts for about a third of the business. “Kendamil is more famous there than it is here,” he says. “We are in 20,000 stores.” Nutricare, the new name for the business, also retained contracts to make infant cereals such as porridge for Heinz, providing a third of its turnover, and sells to north Africa and Southeast Asia.

中国现在占该工厂业务的三分之一左右。“康多蜜儿在中国的知名度超过在英国，”他表示，“我们已入驻中国2000家店铺。”该公司的新名称是肯德尔营养(Nutricare)，它保留了为亨氏生产米糊等婴儿谷物辅食的合约，占其营业额的三分之一，产品销往北非和东南亚。

However, the UK market has proved harder to crack. Kendamil has the highest AA quality rating from the British Retail Consortium but shelf space is dominated by Cow and Gate and Aptamil, owned by Danone of France, and Nestle’s SMA. Only Booths, a small independent in north-west England, and 50 kosher shops in London stock Kendamil, though it is sold online. Other companies can spend millions on marketing, and most customers stick with known brands.

然而，事实证明，英国市场较难攻克。康多蜜儿拥有来自英国零售商协会( British Retail Consortium)的最高AA质量评级，但商店货架被法国达能(Danone)旗下的牛栏(Cow and Gate)和爱他美(Aptamil)以及雀巢(Nestle)的SMA占据。只有位于英格兰西北部的小型独立超市Booths以及伦敦的50家犹太洁食商店售卖康多蜜儿奶粉，不过是在网上销售。其他公司可能会花费数百万英镑用于营销，而且多数消费者忠于已知品牌。

As the only domestic manufacturer, Mr McMahon wants the government to force packaging to declare in which country the formula is made. He also claims it is better quality because he has switched to whole milk. Other brands use skimmed milk and vegetable oil.

作为英国唯一一家本土配方奶粉制造商，麦克马洪希望英国政府强制在包装上标示配方奶粉产地。他还指出，其奶粉的质量更好，因为该公司使用全脂奶。其他品牌则使用脱脂奶和植物油。

The milk comes from 220 farms in northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

该公司的奶源为英格兰北部、苏格兰和北爱尔兰的220家农场。

The factory employs 120 but remains at about one-fifth capacity. However, it is breaking even, Mr McMahon says. Turnover should rise from £8.5m in the year after the takeover to £12m this year. Mr McMahon used the proceeds of property investment in London to buy the business and relies on just a small overdraft. He said he had invested £1.3m and the plant was breaking even. Staff have had a 2 per cent pay rise, although he does not draw a salary.

工厂现有员工120名，但仅维持大约五分之一产能的生产水平。然而，麦克马洪表示，工厂盈亏平衡。今年营业额应会从收购后一年的850万英镑增至1200万英镑。他利用投资伦敦房地产的收益收购了这家工厂，仅少量透支。他表示，他已投入130万英镑，工厂现在不盈不亏。员工薪资上涨了2%，不过他自己不领取工资。

Nutricare has an in-house product team and is now entering the lucrative adult protein food market with Kendalife, a whey-based nutrition drink with fruit flavours. An organic infant formula will follow next year.

肯德尔营养拥有一个内部产品团队，现在正以Kendalife系列产品进入利润颇丰的成人蛋白质食品市场，这种产品是一种基于乳清的水果味营养饮料。明年将推出有机婴儿配方奶粉。

The government has been supportive. The company has been on trade missions with the Department for International Trade and received £590,000 from the Regional Growth Fund for expansion. It wants to hit £31m turnover by 2020.

英国政府一直在提供支持。该公司随同英国国际贸易部(Department for International Trade)参加贸易活动，并收到地区增长基金(Regional Growth Fund)的59万英镑资金用于扩张。该公司希望到2020年将营业额扩大到3100万英镑。

John Whittaker, 56, the factory manager, has worked at the plant for 37 years under three different owners. He says the sales process lasted 18 months, as Heinz disposed of noncore assets ahead of its merger with Kraft.

56岁的工厂经理约翰•惠特克(John Whittaker)在这家工厂工作了37年，经历过3任所有者。他表示，收购过程持续了18个月，亨氏在与卡夫(Kraft)合并之前对其非核心资产进行了处置。

“There were times I thought there was a 80-90 per cent chance of it closing,” he says. Although many workers, who have average service of 20 years, would have received generous redundancy payouts, “they want to keep it going”.

他表示：“我曾经认为它关门的可能性有80%至90%。”尽管很多员工(平均工作时间为20年)本可以获得慷慨的解雇金，“但他们希望工厂继续运营”。

“They care for the town and for the young ones,” Mr Whittaker says.

惠特克表示：“他们关心这个小镇，也关心年轻人。”

The town of 28,000 does not have an unemployment problem, it has a wage problem. Matt Williams, an official with South Lakeland district council, said the unemployment rate was 0.6 per cent but many work in low-paid tourism and agricultural work. The average salary is £24,000 but the average house price is £210,000, driven up by wealthy pensioners and demand for second homes.

这个拥有2.8万人口的小镇没有失业问题，问题是薪资。南莱克兰地区议会的官员马特•威廉姆斯(Matt Williams)表示，失业率为0.6%，但很多人从事薪资较低的旅游业和农业工作。平均薪资为2.4万英镑，但平均房价为21万英镑。富有退休人员和对第二住房的需求推高了房价。

“It is a concern in terms of families being able to stay in the area,” he says. “One hundred plus jobs is significant for a place like Kendal. They are not just in production but R&D. The fact we are in the name is unbelievably good publicity for the town.”

“从能够留在该地区的家庭来看，这是个问题，”他表示，“对于肯德尔这样的地方而言，100多个就业岗位意义重大。它们不仅涉及生产，还包括研发。品牌名称包含小镇的名字，这对于小镇是难以置信的好宣传。”

Mr McMahon says he is committed for the long haul. “The value in this business is the Chinese registration. A Chinese investor would buy this in a heartbeat. But I want to keep it for the people of the town and grow it. What you cannot buy is the years of expertise here.”

麦克马洪表示，他有着长远打算。“公司的价值在于中国认证。中国投资者顷刻之间就可以收购它。但我希望为这个小镇上的人保留它，并让它壮大。多年的专业技能是无法买到的。”