Kiosks with a variety of mooncakes are set up along streets.
Kiosks with a variety of cakes of different brands such as Kinh Do. , Dong Khanh, Huu Nghi, Bibica, Bao Ngoc, Hanoi Confectionery have been set up along streets Lang Ha, Le Van Luong, Ba Trieu, Thanh Nhan, Thuy Khue, Tran Thai Tong in Hanoi.
A female employee at a mooncake kiosk on Le Van Luong Street said that at this time, a few customers started to buy the cake. In comparison to other years, fewer customers bought the special cakes.
Similarly, moon cakes are also being displayed a lot in supermarkets, commercial centers, and convenience stores. The number of visitors at these places is more than the street kiosks, especially on weekends.
A representative of WinCommerce General Trading Services Company revealed the company will sell more than 1 million moon cakes to the market this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, with traditional flavors such as red bean and egg salt, lotus seeds, chia seeds, green beans, lotus puree, salted eggs, and mixed ham.
According to General Director of KIDO Group Tran Le Nguyen, this group has brought to the market about 450 tons of cakes. Similarly, Bibica planned to launch 600 tons of mooncakes of all kinds, an increase of 20 percent as last year.
Not only have enterprises making mooncakes for years and corporations and businesses owning chain stores and retail supermarkets have been racing to launch more mooncakes to the market this year but 5-star hotels are also advertising their cakes. According to a representative of Pan Pacific Hanoi Hotel, the hotel will launch a collection of moon cakes called "Kieu Lien Nguyet Lam" to promote the image of Lotus and West Lake - Hanoi.
In the southern market, some famous big hotels The Reverie Saigon and Windsor Plaza also offered discounts of up to 30 percent for the seasonal cakes making the mooncake retail market exciting.
Noticeably, the price of mooncakes this year increased slightly because units simultaneously adjusted their selling prices. An employee of Huu Nghi Mooncake Kios on Ton Duc Thang Street (Dong Da) said that the price this year increased by about VND 2,000 - VND20,000 a cake or the selling price fluctuates from VND 55,000 to VND400,000 a cake; thus, a box of mooncakes fetches VND 280,000 to VND1 million depending on type, weight, quality of raw materials.
Selling prices have gone up slightly by 5-10 percent because the price of input materials this year increased by about 10-20 percent. For instance, flour increased by 33 percent, paper boxes surged by 11 percent.
At the moment, due to economic difficulties, purchasing power is only about 50 percent of previous years. Many business agents believe that after the full moon of July onwards, especially from the beginning of August in the lunar calendar, the trading volume will be active due to the increased demand for buying moon cakes as gifts.
By Van Phuc - Translated by Anh Quan