Gloomy mooncake market 2024

According to records, this year's market started later than previous years. If in 2023, the market started from the end of the 6th lunar month, this year, although it has passed the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, there are only a few cake stalls.

Traditional brands "debut" early, prices increase slightly

According to a survey by reporters from Cong Thuong Newspaper, on major streets such as Hoang Quoc Viet (Cau Giay), Ba Trieu, Thanh Nhan (Hai Ba Trung), Thuy Khue (Tay Ho), To Huu, Nguyen Thanh Binh (Ha Dong), ... moon cake stalls are appearing more and more. Traditional brands such as Kinh Do, Huu Nghi, Hai Ha, Hanoi Candy, ... are the brands that opened the earliest cake stalls this Mid-Autumn Festival.

Even though the 15th of July has passed, moon cake stalls are still 'sparse'

A sales person at the Kinh Do mooncake stall on Hoang Quoc Viet Street (Cau Giay) said: "Although Kinh Do only started setting up its stall after the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, compared to the general level, Kinh Do is still one of the earliest brands to open for sale."

In addition, traditional cake brands such as Bao Phuong, Binh Chung, Dong Phuong, etc. have also planned to prepare their products and open for sale very early. Since the beginning of the 7th lunar month, people have been lining up at these stores to buy “old” cakes to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival early.

Mr. Tran Van Tri (Dong Da, Hanoi) waited in line for about 30 minutes to buy a box of Bao Phuong mooncakes, sharing: "My family has been eating Bao Phuong's cakes since my grandparents' time. Although there are many new, hot-trend cakes now, we don't find them as delicious as traditional cakes."

At retail grocery stores, traditional cake brands are also attracting more customers. Ms. Nguyen Lan - owner of a grocery store on Phung Chi Kien Street (Cau Giay) commented that traditional moon cakes retain the "flavor" of the nation's traditional Mid-Autumn Festival.

“I started importing and selling cakes before the 15th of the 7th lunar month to serve customers who buy them for the Full Moon festival. I imported both traditional cakes from Kinh Do, Huu Nghi and some modern cake brands and handmade cakes with hot trend flavors for young people such as lava eggs, tiramisu, etc. But customers mainly choose to buy cakes with traditional flavors, modern cakes only buy 1-2 pieces to try” , Ms. Lan said.

This year, brands have released many new lines of cakes with unique flavors and designs, so cake prices have also increased slightly.

Kinh Do mooncakes cost between 58,000 and 175,000 VND per piece depending on the flavor and size. Box sets of 3 to 8 cakes cost between 285,000 and 790,000 VND per box depending on the flavor and box design. In addition, the brand also launched a number of high-end gift sets, including premium tea, priced between 1 and 5 million VND per set.

Huu Nghi mooncakes have a “softer” price, this year the brand offers products with prices ranging from 58,000-115,000 VND/cake depending on the size and flavor. In particular, this year, the company launched the Momiji cake product line with hot-trend flavors, suitable for the preferences of young people, with prices ranging from 70,000-119,000 VND/120g cake.

"Gloomy" purchasing power

This year's market is considered somewhat gloomy even though it is the end of the 7th lunar month, the stalls are still deserted.

According to a sales person at the Huu Nghi mooncake stall on Cau Giay street, it has been open for 2 weeks but the number of customers coming in and out can only be "counted on the fingers".

“Every year around this time, there are always a lot of customers coming and going, including large orders from businesses. But this year, perhaps partly because the store opened late, people have not stopped by to buy much,” this employee shared.

Predicting the purchasing power of the market this year, many grocery stores and retailers do not dare to import many goods.

Grocery stores and retailers do not dare to import many goods.

Ms. Nguyen Van Anh - owner of a retail grocery store at Nghia Tan market said: "Every year, I import many batches, the first batch will import about 200, the next batches will rely on the purchasing power of the market to import accordingly, but this year the first batch I only dared to import 100, and after half a month I still haven't sold out."

Just like the traditional market, the online market also recorded a dullness different from previous years. On the "online" markets, although there are a variety of designs and flavors from traditional to modern, according to sellers, the number of people asking to buy is not much.

Ms. Nguyen Phuong Thao - an online mooncake seller said that even though she posted on nearly ten "online market" groups, she still could not reach many customers.

“I focus on selling handmade cakes that I make myself and making modern cakes, but even though I have been open for nearly a month, the number of customers placing orders is sparse. In addition to the residential market groups, I also have a page specializing in seasonal sales, but this year that page has not helped me attract as many customers as every year,” Ms. Thao confided. Ms. Thao predicted that the market will reach its "peak" around the 5th-14th of the 8th lunar month.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/am-dam-thi-truong-banh-trung-thu-2024-341741.html