Hanoi mooncake stalls anxiously wait for customers

A customer chooses moon cakes, preferably as gifts - Photo: NGOC AN

It is noted that moon cake sales points in Hanoi are quite gloomy even though there are only 4 days left until the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Going around the moon cake stalls on To Huu street to choose to buy cakes, but because the price of moon cakes this year has increased, with the average price for brands such as Kinh Do, Hai Ha, Bibica... so Ms. Lan (in Mo Lao, Ha Dong) went to each stall to choose the right product.

"I buy for my family and send a large quantity back to my hometown to give to my grandparents and grandchildren to encourage them during the storm and flood. Therefore, I want to choose a type that is affordable while still ensuring quality. The price of moon cakes this year has increased from all brands, although not much, but in difficult times, we have to consider the price," Lan shared.

According to Ms. Hoa (Doi Can, Ba Dinh), the price of cakes has increased this year, but Mid-Autumn Festival cannot be without moon cakes for incense offering, so she still chooses to buy a few pairs of cakes for offerings and for her grandchildren.

Due to economic difficulties, the amount of purchases is also limited, so she chooses some traditional flavor products that she is familiar with such as mixed fillings, green beans, lotus seeds...

Many mooncake shops are open for sale among the green trees and broken branches lying scattered on the sidewalks of Hanoi - Photo: NGOC AN

Surveying the market, most mooncakes of various brands have slightly increased in price. The price for Kinh Do mooncakes ranges from 60,000 - 100,000 VND/cake for 150g, with each box (4 pieces); Hai Ha mooncakes are 40,000 - 80,000 VND/cake...

Some traditional cakes of Hanoi such as Bao Ngoc cakes cost 60,000 - 80,000 VND/piece. Boxes of 4 - 8 cakes are designed with the theme of the names of streets and places in Hanoi, commonly priced at around 400,000 - 500,000 VND/box, with some boxes costing up to nearly 2 million VND.

Maison Cakes also designs themed boxes, priced at around VND400,000 - VND900,000; Thu Huong 1996 cakes are VND65,000/piece (except for moon cakes), as well as themed boxes priced at VND360,000 - VND2 million/box.

Sharing with Tuoi Tre Online , Ms. Mai, who runs a bakery on Thuy Khue Street (Tay Ho), said that due to the storm, her business was affected. Some shelves collapsed, so it took time to fix them. Up to now, her stall is still cluttered with all kinds of cakes.

Some mooncake stalls affected by storms and floods had to stop selling, and the stores were empty of customers - Photo: NGOC AN

"Consumption of mooncakes is slower than in previous years. People are busy recovering from the storm, and overall purchasing power is lower this year. So even though there are only a few days left until Mid-Autumn Festival, we still have a lot of goods. I also hope that people will buy more in the last few days," said Ms. Mai.

Mr. Tuan, the owner of a moon cake stall in Hanoi, said that before the storm, some customers from residential areas and buildings ordered large quantities of cakes to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival for their children, so he registered the quantity and signed a wholesale contract with a large-scale manufacturer.

However, due to storms and floods and severe damage in many localities, some places canceled the event, so he also lost thousands of cakes. Feeling like he was sitting on a pile of fire because he was worried about not being able to sell the products while the contract had been signed, he tried every way to introduce the product, connecting with volunteer units for the flooded areas to sell at a "softer" discount price.

Thanks to that, there are also units that place orders to give cakes to people and children in flood areas in large quantities. Accepting a lower discount, he receives better orders and hopes that in the last days he will "salvage" the investment amount.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/quay-banh-trung-thu-ha-noi-sot-ruot-ngong-khach-mua-20240913163859294.htm