Moon cake season begins to be bustling

The Mid-Autumn Festival is still more than a month away, but on many major streets in Ho Chi Minh City, mooncake stalls have been set up and are selling early with a variety of types and new mooncake sets to attract customers.

Many customers wait to buy moon cakes at a production facility on Pham Phu Thu Street (HCMC) - Photo: KHÁNH LINH

Despite expectations of increased purchasing power compared to last year, many businesses and small sellers remain cautious due to concerns that consumers will tighten their spending.

Meanwhile, moon cakes of unknown origin and counterfeit goods... have begun to be sold everywhere, posing potential food safety risks.

Many new cake lines, cake prices increase

Tuoi Tre's records show that most of the cake stalls that have opened are from familiar brands such as Kinh Do, Nhu Lan, Bibica, Huu Nghi, Dong Khanh... The common price of cakes with 1-2 eggs ranges from 60,000 - 200,000 VND/cake, depending on traditional or high-end lines.

In addition to traditional cakes, mixed cakes, and Chinese sausages, this year's market introduces modern cakes such as mochi with melted eggs, green beans, pandan leaves, taro... combined with luxurious gift sets. Notably, the market has many new cake models with the theme "colors of the Fatherland", specially designed for the National Day on September 2, usually consisting of two pieces, priced at about 290,000 VND/set.

The cakes are delicately designed with bright red symbolizing the national flag, highlighted by yellow stars printed or embossed on the surface, reminiscent of the Vietnamese flag. Some other designs are inspired by the shape of the country, printed with a winding S-shaped strip of land on an eye-catching red background. Many shops also give away additional gifts such as red flag stickers with yellow stars, red flag shirts with yellow stars.

Talking to Tuoi Tre, businesses said that due to the increase in input material prices, the price of moon cakes this year has increased compared to last year. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy - Director of Dong Khanh Foodstuff Company Limited, the unit that produces moon cakes under the brand name Bong Lua Vang - said that due to the increase in input material prices, this business has adjusted the price up by about 1,500 - 2,000 VND/piece compared to last year.

Accordingly, the products are sold at a common price of 40,000 - 60,000 VND/piece depending on the type. Similarly, with dozens of types of cakes with common prices ranging from 47,000 - 270,000 VND/piece depending on the type, ABC Bakery representative said that although the price of input materials has increased sharply, they have tried to keep the price at the best possible level.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Loi, a mooncake vendor on Hoang Dieu Street (old District 4), said that the price of mooncakes this year has increased due to the increase in input costs such as flour, sugar, salted eggs, electricity, gasoline, etc. Specifically, some boxes of 4 mooncakes are currently priced at around VND280,000, higher than last year's price, which was only VND240,000/box.

According to Mr. Loi, the store has imported about 100 boxes of cakes in the first batch, but the amount of cakes sold in the first week has not been as expected. Partly due to economic difficulties, people are tightening their belts, but it cannot be ruled out because it is still quite a while until the Mid-Autumn Festival.

"In addition, competition between brands is increasingly fierce, designs are increasingly diverse, giving consumers more choices. However, if customers increase sharply at the peak 2-3 weeks before the 15th of August, we can still make a living," Mr. Loi hopes.

Expecting increased purchasing power but still "nervous"

According to records, some stores specializing in producing and selling traditional moon cakes have had many buyers. At a store in the center of District 1 (old), many people lined up to buy moon cakes with prices ranging from 80,000 - 110,000 VND, depending on the type and size.

Mr. Phuong Trien Phong, owner of Phuong Diem Thuan mooncake shop (old District 6), said that this year, the sale opened earlier than usual, and purchasing power also increased significantly compared to the same time last year. "We focus on producing less sweet products because customer demand for this is very high, meeting the needs of both low-end and high-end segments," Mr. Phong shared.

To reach new customers, packaging, boxes and product designs are always made to target more customers. "Every day, our facility produces about 2,000 cakes, with 18 different types. Actual sales range from 500 - 1,000 cakes/day," Mr. Phong added.

Mr. Tran Le Nguyen - General Director of KIDO Group - said that the market purchasing power as well as the business situation of enterprises are showing many improvements. Therefore, this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, this enterprise plans to double the production of moon cakes compared to the same period.

Although the purchasing power of moon cakes this year may be better than last year, according to many sellers, compared to stable years before the COVID-19 pandemic, purchasing power has decreased significantly. This has led many businesses this year to prioritize limited production, producing as orders come in. In addition, this is the beginning of the season, demand has only reached about 10%, so it is difficult to assess the overall purchasing power.

Meanwhile, according to a representative of Saigon Trading Group (SATRA), this company still has no plan for the number of moon cakes to be sold and distributed in the system, but it is expected to decrease relatively, partly due to concerns that consumers will tighten their spending, but partly due to changes in consumer tastes.

"Customers prefer products from traditional production and business establishments more, while the high-end segment will buy cakes from restaurants and hotels. Therefore, the consumption of moon cakes at supermarkets has also decreased," he said, but added that the peak products during the 8th lunar month are not only moon cakes but also items such as gift sets, bird's nest, tea, etc.

Many goods are floating around, businesses are looking for ways to protect themselves

On the internet, the moon cake market is more vibrant. Many sellers of homemade cakes post wholesale and retail advertisements with quite diverse prices, from a few thousand to a few hundred thousand VND/piece with a commitment to guaranteed ingredients, delicious cakes...

However, many of these products actually have rather sketchy packaging, with unknown expiration dates... In addition, imported cakes are also sold by businesses on online markets at all prices, with a variety of prices, posing a potential risk of food safety for consumers. In addition, many people also advertise products labeled as famous brands, but are actually counterfeit goods.

According to Mr. Tran Le Nguyen, to deal with the situation of counterfeit and fake goods flooding the market, this group focuses on developing a chain of genuine Mid-Autumn Festival stores nationwide, so that consumers can easily find and buy.

"This will be a strategic distribution channel for the Mid-Autumn Festival, guaranteeing product quality, especially supporting consumers with new issues related to taxes and invoices after July 1, 2025," Mr. Nguyen added.

Mr. Phuong Nguyen Phong also said that this facility had to hang a sign "Phuong Diem Thuan only sells at this address, no agents or distribution on e-commerce platforms", after discovering many stores on e-commerce platforms selling mooncakes that imitated this brand.

Building a moon cake brand with a responsible blue tick

Effective control of the origin of goods cannot rely solely on state management agencies, but requires the support of retail businesses and transparency from suppliers.

This is also the content discussed by experts, businesses and representatives of functional agencies at the seminar "Building moon cake brands through the blue tick responsibility program", organized by the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City in coordination with the Department of Food Safety of Ho Chi Minh City and Tuoi Tre newspaper at the headquarters of Tuoi Tre newspaper on August 29.

The seminar is expected to have the participation of moon cake production and trading enterprises and management agencies. The parties will exchange experiences and propose solutions to strengthen supervision and management, while strengthening consumer confidence and promoting business compliance with food safety regulations.

The organizers hope that the "Green Tick of Responsibility" will be the first step to help the moon cake market become more transparent, safe and healthy, while creating a foundation for the entire food industry to develop sustainably.

NGUYEN TRI - KHANH LINH - NHAT XUAN

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/mua-banh-trung-thu-bat-dau-soi-dong-20250828233008922.htm