Selling hand-carried moon cakes, profit 300 million/month

Hand-carried mooncakes costing millions of dong are flooding the market, creating an unprecedented fever; thanks to this, traders are making a big profit this year, with some earning up to 300 million dong in just over a month.

Hand-carried moon cakes dominate

With less than half a month to go until the Mid-Autumn Festival, all kinds of domestic and foreign mooncake brands have appeared on the shelves. Especially this Mid-Autumn Festival, hand-carried mooncakes are everywhere, with all kinds, from popular products priced at only a few tens of thousands to boxes of cakes costing millions.

For example, at a clean food store in Phan Xich Long (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City), there are nearly ten types of moon cakes imported from Hong Kong alone, with prices ranging from 1.1 to 1.6 million VND/box, such as: Musang King durian moon cakes, moon cakes with overflowing salted egg yolk, gold-plated moon cakes, etc.

Similarly, another store specializing in selling imported fruits and candies on Hue Street (Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi) also advertises selling all kinds of imported moon cakes that are taking the market by storm.

Hong Kong mooncakes are flooding the market.

Not only that, on the social network Facebook, hand-carried moon cakes from Hong Kong, Korea or Japan are also widely available with many different brands.

Notably, according to the shop owners, unlike other types of hand-carried fruit that customers have to order 3-7 days in advance, some types even have to order half a month in advance, customers only need to call to order hand-carried moon cakes, and receive them about 1 hour later. Because, most hand-carried moon cakes are imported in large quantities, some places even import thousands of boxes at a time.

Ms. Dao Thi Thu Vinh in To Ngoc Van (Tay Ho, Hanoi) has just received 3 boxes of moon cakes, hand-carried from Hong Kong, from the delivery staff. She shared that she has never bought hand-carried goods so quickly. She just ordered 45 minutes ago and the cakes were delivered to her house.

According to Ms. Thu, at the beginning of the season, that is, before the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, she had to wait 2 days to order moon cakes. Now, hand-carried moon cakes are sold everywhere, and advertisements for this type of cake are everywhere.

“Sometimes it is easier to buy hand-carried mooncakes, especially Hong Kong mooncakes, than to buy handmade mooncakes from non-professional housewives,” she commented.

She said that some of her colleagues had to “order” handmade mooncakes half a month, even a whole month in advance, and the price was up to half a million VND per box. Meanwhile, hand-carried mooncakes can be ordered and delivered the same day. In particular, this type is very suitable for giving as gifts because it ensures luxury.

These types of hand-carried moon cakes are popular among people.

Traders make big profits

Entering the market, continuously creating fevers due to being favored by Vietnamese consumers. Accordingly, hand-carried mooncake traders have had a bumper crop this year.

While sitting and packing a series of orders into bags for the shipper to prepare for delivery, Ms. Tran Ngoc Linh's two phones in Tam Trinh (Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi) rang continuously. After listening to three phone calls at once, Ms. Linh turned to brag: "At this time, only customers call to order Hong Kong moon cakes because it is the peak season."

Ms. Linh has been selling mooncakes imported from Hong Kong for 2 years now, but specializes in two types of cakes: Lava green box and Lava purple box, priced at 950,000 VND/box and 1.5 million VND/box respectively. Of which, the green box is the most popular.

According to her, the moon cake market this year is really vibrant, there are many types of cakes, and the number of customers ordering is also large and much earlier than last year.

“Last year, I sold nearly 2,000 boxes during the entire Mid-Autumn Festival. This year, I imported 2,000 boxes but they were all sold out by the end of the 7th lunar month. I imported another 1,000 boxes but they are almost sold out now.”

Ms. Linh said that she sold all the remaining cakes in the warehouse. She is worried that from now until the Mid-Autumn Festival, she will not be able to collect more goods because in Hong Kong, customers are also rushing to buy cakes.

Sharing about the money she earns after each Mid-Autumn Festival, Ms. Linh revealed that she earns about 100,000-150,000 VND per box of cake. For example, the green box of Lava cake, calculated at the wholesale price in Hong Kong plus the cost of air freight to Vietnam, is up to 800,000 VND per box. If the retail price is 950,000 VND per box, the profit is 150,000 VND, minus the shipper fee, the remaining is 130,000 VND.

If calculated by box, the profit is not big. But this season, if she sells 3,000 boxes, she will pocket at least 300 million VND after deducting expenses.

Thanks to the fever of hand-carried moon cakes, in just over a month, Mr. Le Minh Hieu, owner of an imported food store in Nguyen Trai (Thanh Xuan, Hanoi) also earned nearly 100 million in profit.

“I only sell them with other foods, so I don’t sell many cakes. But those who specialize in selling moon cakes are making a lot of money this time. Because each time they import at least 300 to a thousand boxes of cakes. And as soon as they are imported, they sell out because the demand for them to eat and to give as gifts is high this year,” said Mr. Hieu.

According to VNN