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計出一款熱薯條自動販賣機，在顧客等候期間能自動將冷凍薯條烤制成熱騰騰的薯條。

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，人們幽怨的盯一眼外賣餐館前暫時歇業的告示牌，而后踩著無力的腳步回家啃令人毫無胃口、索然無味的面包片時，腦海通常會閃過一個念頭：如果有一臺熱食自動售賣機該多好，這種想法歷經多年終于變成了現實。

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）最新的風險項目，其最為人熟知的身份是電信公司New Tel總經理一職，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“在中國實現與美國的自由通訊”計劃失敗之前，曾從市場中籌集到1.5億美元，2002年，公司因計劃失敗虧欠股東近5000萬美元，改由政府接管。當時澳大利亞電信公司（Telstra）和澳都斯公司（Optus ）皆負債1000萬美元。

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.

擔任熱薯條公司（The Hot Chips Company）執行董事的馬隆表示，早在十多年前，當其商業團隊與其他公司失去監管聯系時便開始研發這款自動販賣機。

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，這款機器不久前剛通過試驗階段，將于今年投入商業化生產，薯條會在含有10升米糠油的機體內烤制。

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.

后期設計采用的技術通過機械手臂將薯條置于杯中，遞交給等候中的顧客。該技術是近年來才進入實用階段的。

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”.

馬隆認為，這種薯條會得到心臟基金會（Heart Foundation）的認證，因為它是采用不含膽固醇的食用油煎制而成的。他稱食物中毒的可能性非常小，因為“土豆具有化學惰性。”

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。其供應商是從事土豆加工和出口的本多蒂出口公司（Bendotti Exporters）和WA 薯條公司（WA Chip），擔任這兩家公司董事的史蒂芬·本多蒂（Stephen Bendotti）表示，為制作出可在數分鐘內烤制而成的冷凍薯條，他們進行了很多試驗，也經歷了不少失敗。

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.

薯條實際形狀仍是一個機密，但據本多蒂透露，它們很有可能比普通薯條具有更標準的外形。本多蒂說，“它們的形狀和長度必須很統一，所以并不存放在機器里。”

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3萬公里）就有一臺投入使用的自動售賣機，不僅深受員工喜愛，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.”

“它就像一家售賣魚和薯條的小型商店，”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條，如可樂售賣機一般大小。”

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）和珀斯機場宜必思經濟酒店（Ibis Budget airport hotel）的兩個服務站均設有這款販賣機供公眾使用。

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，公司計劃在今年年底前制造出200臺這樣的機器，并計劃于2016年與2017年分別增產至1000臺和5000臺。他表示，機子可能售往連鎖服務站，因而可在一年內遍布整個澳大利亞，而下一個目標就是進軍國際市場。

“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.”

“公司規模將比New Tel更大，”馬隆說道，“它會走紅全球，因為我們不需要告訴人們，薯條是種能吃的東西。”

Vocabulary

vending: 販賣的

takeaway: 外賣食品

stumble: 蹣跚

cholesterol: 膽固醇

inert: [化學] 惰性的

（譯者：佳木China 編輯：丁一）