隨著飲食趨勢改變，早餐穀片銷售大幅下滑。大城市中出現的”Cereal Café”，會是讓穀片翻身的奇招嗎？進入本文前，請先想想以下單字怎麼說：
(a)與…..搭檔
(b) 增添新風味(增添變數)
(c) 吹捧 In July, Kellogg opened a restaurant in Time Square. A bowl of cereal will cost you $7.50. It’s not just cereal, though. Kellogg (a) teamed up with culinary heavyweights to (b) add a twist to cereal experience. For example, Berry Au Lait is frosted Mini-Wheats, ground coffee and fresh Raspberries; The Chai Line is Crispix, fresh peaches, and Chai tea powder. This is not just Kellogg’s PR approach, but a reaction to a major sales decline, the Guardian reports.
今年七月，家樂氏穀片在紐約時代廣場開了一間餐廳，一碗穀片要價7.5美元。不過它不只是穀片。家樂氏與烹飪界重量級人物搭檔，想創造不同的穀片體驗。例如，莓果歐蕾是家樂氏的迷你麥片，研磨咖啡和新鮮覆盆莓；印度茶是香脆玉米片加上新鮮水蜜桃和印度茶粉。英國衛報報導，這不只是家樂氏的公關活動，而是面對銷量大幅下跌的措施。 Breakfast cereal is now facing greater challenge than ever. According to brand consulting firm Stealing Share, “The real change in breakfast habits can be seen in the last 25 years. In recent years, we’ve seen a decline in dairy consumption with fewer and fewer households buying milk and a turn from carbohydrates back to protein consumption. The trend nearly destroyed the orange juice market and has (1) taken its toll on breakfast foods as well.”
穀片早餐正面臨前所未有的挑戰。品牌顧問公司Stealing Share發表的文中提到，「過去25年來早餐習慣徹底改變，奶製品的消耗降低，越來越少家庭購買牛奶，人們也減少攝取碳水化合物，改回補充蛋白質。這股飲食趨勢幾乎消滅盒裝柳橙汁市場，也對早餐食品造成負面影響。」 You’ve probably heard that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” What you may not know is the origin of this proverbial saying: a 1944 marketing campaign launched by American cereal manufacturer General Foods. During the campaign, grocery stores handed out pamphlets that c) touted the importance of breakfast.
你大概聽過「早餐是一天中最重要的一餐。」但你可能有所不知，這句家喻戶曉的諺語來自何處。它源於1944年美國穀物早餐廠商General Foods的行銷活動。當時雜貨店發送小冊子來宣傳早餐的重要性。 Cereal originated in health sanitariums run by Dr. John Kellogg and others in the 1800s. In addition to preferring whole grains to white bread, Dr. Kellogg believed that too much meat and too many spices had negative side-effects. With deep-seated faith in health food, Dr. Kellogg was 2) dead set against sugared cereal. Much to his chagrin, though, the two most successful cereal entrepreneurs were his brother, Will Kellogg, and one of his former patients, C.W. Post. Both of them made a fast buck by adopting two “magical” ingredients: sugar and advertising.
穀物早餐起源於1800年代約翰•家樂博士等人所經營的健康療養院。除了認為全麥優於白麵包，家樂博士也相信，太多肉類及香料有害健康。家樂博士深信健康食品的好處，極力反對加糖的穀物早餐，然而令他懊惱的是，兩位最成功的穀物商是他的弟弟威爾•家樂，以及前病人C.W.波斯特，兩人採用2種「神奇」的原料：糖和廣告，一夜致富。 口語詞彙:
1) take a toll on something/someone 造成負面影響
The disease has taken a horrendous toll in parts of western Africa. 此疾病重創西非部分地區。
2) dead set against something/someone 極力反對
Set 是「堅決」，而against有「反對」的意思，因此本成語意味「心意已決，死都不可能改變」。
The general manger is dead set against the expansion proposal, but the board of directors has approved it. 總經理極力反對擴張案，但董事會已通過該案。 | 
