Currently, many retailers in Ho Chi Minh City are offering a "buy one, get four" promotion on Dong Khanh brand mooncakes, but sales are still not as high as expected. - Photo: N.TRÍ
With only a few days left until the Mid-Autumn Festival, many vendors are rushing to offer promotions like "buy one, get three or four," or selling at a fixed price, hoping to attract customers and avoid having too much unsold inventory.
"Buy 1, get 4" - still worried about unsold stock.
As of September 15th, along major roads in Ho Chi Minh City such as Pham Van Dong, Cach Mang Thang Tam, and Quang Trung, it's easy to see that most mooncake stalls and shops are displaying signs advertising discounts like "buy 1, get 3 or 4," or offering significant price reductions to customers.
While selling goods to customers, Ms. Ngo Thi Hong, owner of a shop on Pham Van Dong Street (Thu Duc City), said that purchasing power has increased significantly since her shop implemented a "buy one, get four" promotion on Dong Khanh cakes a few days ago. However, sales are still not as high as expected.
According to Ms. Hong, with prices ranging from 80,000 to 120,000 VND per cake depending on the type, the "buy one, get four" offer means each cake now only costs about 20,000 to 30,000 VND, which is a great price.
Similarly, in addition to applying deep discounts to the Dong Khanh line of cakes in an attempt to sell off the remaining more than 2,000 cakes, Mr. Nguyen Van Duc, representative of a sales point on Quang Trung Street (Go Vap), said he is calculating whether to return more than 70 boxes of Kinh Do cakes to the company.
According to Mr. Duc, Kinh Do's return policy eases the pressure on retailers, while Dong Khanh bakery has a buy-and-sell policy, meaning retailers have to handle everything themselves.
"Returning the cakes means we haven't met the sales target, so we won't get a bonus. But oh well, it's better to accept a smaller profit margin for peace of mind," Mr. Duc calculated.
Having just stopped by the store to take advantage of the "buy 2, get 8" offer, Ms. Ngo Thi Huong (Binh Thanh) said she was craving the cakes but the price was too high at the beginning of the season, so she's only now "waiting" to buy some to eat.
"If stores offered good prices from the start and implemented a pricing policy, both customers and sellers would find it easier to buy and sell, without having to rush to clear out old stock like they do now," Ms. Huong said.
Besides retail outlets, many supermarkets such as Winmart, Co.opmart, MM Mega Market, Bach Hoa Xanh... are also offering additional discounts on many types of mooncakes, with some outlets even offering discounts of up to 50%.
Are high prices mainly due to consumer demand?
In a recent interview with Tuoi Tre Online , Kao Sieu Luc, General Director of Asia Confectionery Joint Stock Company (ABC Bakery), stated that the range of mooncakes is currently quite diverse, with many high-priced options available.
However, according to Mr. Luc, the price increase is partly due to the rising cost of raw materials. In addition, the consumption trend for mooncakes has changed significantly compared to the past, as they are no longer just for children but are now also used as gifts...
Mooncake production at a business in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: N.TRÍ
"The general sentiment is that cakes given as gifts cannot be cheap. Therefore, inexpensive cakes can still be produced, but higher-priced cakes are usually of higher quality and better suited to the tastes of gift-giving," Mr. Luc said.
Many businesses acknowledge that while the selling price is 2, or even 3, the production cost may only be 1.
Regarding products priced at 1-2 million VND per box, Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Huong, a representative of a mooncake production facility in Ho Chi Minh City, stated that cheaper mooncakes costing tens of thousands or even just a few thousand VND can still be produced. However, the facility's focus is on mooncakes intended as gifts, so they must be luxurious, with the cost of the packaging sometimes doubling the cost of the mooncake itself.
Meanwhile, addressing the consumer's view that "mooncake prices are too high, and manufacturers are making huge profits," Mr. Trinh Phuc Nguyen, director of a confectionery company in Ho Chi Minh City, stated that "the profits are not as large as many people mistakenly believe."
Mooncakes made from red dragon fruit as the main ingredient have recently been introduced to the market by a research company - Photo: N.TRÍ
According to Mr. Nguyen, there are typically three levels of distribution: the main distributor, the dealers managed by the distributor, and the third level, which is the retail store.
Accordingly, official distributors typically receive a 25% discount from the manufacturer, plus an additional 5% at the end of the season if the distributor meets sales targets. This discount is then further divided among dealers, who in turn distribute it to retailers, not to mention the early season discounts often requested by customers.
"In the past, if a customer bought 1,000 boxes wholesale, they would get a 20% discount, and for 5,000 boxes, a 30% discount. But now, customers buying relatively large quantities demand the highest possible discount. The profit margin is now divided among consumers, distributors, operating costs, etc., so in reality, the company doesn't 'take' all the profit," Mr. Nguyen affirmed.
High costs, many risks involved.
Many businesses admit that while the production cost is 1, the selling price can be 2 or even 3 times higher. However, the profit margin on mooncakes is no longer as attractive as it used to be.
Specifically, because it's a seasonal product, the operating costs and investment in a mooncake shop are usually higher than for regular goods, not to mention the high inventory rate, which means greater risks are involved.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/gia-ban-le-cao-doanh-nghiep-san-xuat-banh-trung-thu-lai-lon-20240915215626328.htm
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