Mooncake market heats up

Even though the Mid-Autumn Festival is still one month away, the first batches of mooncakes in a variety of forms and flavours have already been launched by major brands such as Huu Nghi, Kinh Do, Hai Ha-Kotobuki and Bibica.

Many shops and agents remark that this year’s mooncakes are particularly diverse in design and quality. Most of the products have beautiful and luxurious packaging.

Surveys show that businesses have massively increased their output to cash in on this occasion. The Huu Nghi Confectionery Food Company has planned to bring to the market 1,500 tonnes of mooncakes while the Kinh Do Joint Stock Company hopes to sell 1,900 tonnes of the cakes. Bibica Joint Stock company is also planning some 500 tonnes, a 20 percent increase from last year.

The companies have also raised their prices by 5-15 percent, some even 20 percent, due to the rising prices of their ingredients.

Bibica mooncakes have seen the highest price rise – ranging from 15-20 percent, and Kinh Do has pushed their prices up 10 percent.

However, Huu Nghi has raised its prices by only 5-10 percent despite a 25 percent increase in the cost of raw materials, said Nguyen Minh Duc, the company’s Vice Sales Manager. For instance, its mooncakes without yolks sell for VND15,000-30,000 each, while mooncakes with yolks are traded at between VND30,000-60,000 apiece. Some yolk cakes are even priced 14 percent lower than last year.

In addition to mooncakes in traditional flavours, Huu Nghi has launched a set of six premier ‘Golden Moon’ products, which have eye-catching packaging and are priced between VND280,000-690,000 per box.

Kinh Do is also offering innovative cakes with less sugar, more polyasaccharides and a wide variety of fillings.

To get a big slice of the cake, Hai Ha–Kotobuki is launching various products which are made from Isomalt sugar and are low in calories making them suitable for the elderly or people on special diets.

Huu Nghi’s Nguyen Minh Duc said to celebrate the millennial anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, his company is offering a special promotion for the first 1,000 customers who buy mooncakes at the Huu Nghi Bakery chain. – VOV

Tags: Vietnam mooncake