時思糖果的秘密（節選）

????每天凌晨4點鐘，時思糖果公司（See's Candies）的工人們就開始陸續抵達位于洛杉磯和舊金山的工廠。他們站在各自的工位前，一些人把軟糖料灑在楓葉核桃糖上，或者數著每個皇家杏仁巧克力中的堅果數量。另一些人則把甜醉杏仁糖鋪在平底鍋里，或者用手捏碎腰果塊。工人們穿著類似實驗室工作服的白大褂，衣服的前方縫著每個人的名字，顏色為黑色——與1952年攝制的著名情景喜劇《我愛露西》（I Love Lucy）中的服飾非常類似，這部戲的主演露西爾?鮑爾還曾專門在時思糖果公司體驗過一段時間。到了早上9點鐘，許多工人已經開始吃午飯了。

????與此同時，在奧馬哈市法鈉姆街的基維特大廈，沃倫?巴菲特基本上不知道時思糖果公司正在發生的一幕。他的伯克希爾哈撒韋集團（Berkshire Hathaway）于1972年（整整40年前），以2,500萬美元的價格收購了這家小型糖果制造商。盒裝巧克力是一個規模較小的產業，據估算，美國一年的盒裝巧克力總銷售額還不到20億美元，而且并不是每年都會增長，盡管在2012年增長了4%。巴菲特同時還持有其他資產，包括美國運通（American Express）、可口可樂（Coca-Cola）和IBM公司的大宗股權，它們2011年實現了3.76億美元的銷售額。相形之下，時思糖果公司8,300萬美元的凈利潤不啻為“滄海一粟”。但在他所有的投資中，這家區域性糖果制造商時至今日依然是巴菲特的最愛。

????當然，這位奧馬哈先知并不擔心旗下公司的日常管理工作；2006年，巴菲特對時思糖果公司進行了40年來最大一次干預：當時，已經為時思糖果公司效力54年之久、并擔任了33年首席執行官一職的查克?希金斯榮休之后，巴菲特安排伯克希爾哈撒韋集團保險事務的長期負責人布拉德?金斯特勒接掌了這家公司的運營工作。

????現在，59歲的金斯特勒正著手從事一項雄心勃勃的計劃，意欲把時思糖果帶往全美各地。在前往美國西海岸的旅途中，大家或許在機場商店中見過時思糖果的身影，但在該公司的211家專賣店中，沒有一家設在芝加哥以東的地區。未來3年，時思糖果計劃在佛羅里達州、佐治亞州、賓夕法尼亞州、馬里蘭州和華盛頓特區等地區開設專賣店。這項計劃能否成功依然是個未知數；過去進行的類似嘗試并不太奏效。對于一家素以耐心和審慎著稱（就像巴菲特本人）的企業而言，（雖然經過了仔細考慮，）如此規模的擴張計劃往往依然孕育著風險。但金斯特勒比他的前任更有決心實現這個目標。

????譯者：任文科

????The plant workers of See's Candies start arriving each day at 4 a.m. In Los Angeles and San Francisco they stand at their stations and drizzle fondant onto maple pecan bonbons or count the nuts in each almond royal. They spread rum nougat into flat pans or break up chunks of cashew brittle by hand. All the while, they wear the signature white lab coats with their first names embroidered on the front in black stitching -- similar to the ones in the famous 1952 I Love Lucyepisode, for which Lucille Ball trained at See's. By 9 a.m., many of the workers break for lunch.

????Meanwhile, in the Kiewit Building on Farnam Street in Omaha, Warren Buffett is largely unaware of what is beginning at See's. His Berkshire Hathaway group (BRKA) acquired the little candy company in 1972 -- exactly 40 years ago -- for $25 million. The boxed-chocolate industry is small, with total sales estimated at just under $2 billion a year in the U.S., and does not often grow year to year, although it is up 4% in 2012. See's, which had sales of $376 million in 2011, $83 million of it profit, represents an infinitesimal drop in the bucket of Buffett's other holdings, which include fat stakes in American Express (AXP), Coca-Cola (KO), and IBM (IBM). But of all his investments, the regional candy maker remains Buffett's fondest.

????Of course, the Oracle doesn't worry himself with the day-to-day management of companies he owns; his biggest act of participation in four decades was in 2006 when he installed longtime Berkshire insurance man Brad Kinstler to run things after Chuck Huggins, who had been with the company 54 years and was CEO for 33 of them, retired.

????Now Kinstler, 59, is embarking on a plan to spread out across the country. You may know See's from airport kiosks on trips to the West Coast, but of the company's 211 shops, none are east of Chicago. In the next three years See's plans to open stores in states like Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, and in Washington, D.C. Whether it will be successful is uncertain; past attempts have not worked that well. The plan means risk -- though measured -- for a business that, like Buffett himself, is usually about patience and caution. But Kinstler is more determined than anyone before him to make it happen.