Online July Full Moon Festival in Vinh City attracts customers

Vegetarian food reigns supreme

Nowadays, vegetarian food, especially vegetarian offerings on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, is chosen by many people. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuan, owner of a restaurant specializing invegetarian disheson Nguyen Sy Sach street (Vinh city) has been making vegetarian offerings for the Full Moon festival for nearly 3 years now.

If in previous years, on this occasion, the number of vegetarians coming to eat during Vu Lan month was so high that they could not serve all the customers, this year the restaurant was closed due to the epidemic. However, she and her 3 employees have been working non-stop since the beginning of the month when the number of people ordering vegetarian dishes for worship and eating vegetarian food at home via Facebook and Zalo has increased sharply.

The prices of vegetarian dishes are also very diverse, from 500,000 - 700,000 VND and elaborate dishes cost millions. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Ms. Thanh Xuan said: "There are about 200 vegetarian dishes from the first day to noon of the full moon, and there are an average of 20-30 orders for individual dishes per day. Currently, the restaurant has gradually returned orders to customers by delivering them to their homes."

According to this restaurant owner, currently,vegetarianVegetarianism has become a popular trend. Many people are vegetarian because of religious beliefs; some are vegetarian with the concept of cultivating their mind and character; some are vegetarian because they want to lose weight, and many people choose vegetarianism as a method to protect their health and prevent disease.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuan, owner of a famous vegetarian restaurant in Vinh, is preparing food to deliver to customers. Photo: Thanh Phuc

EnterVu Lan season, the demand for vegetarian trays to worship ancestors increases, this is the time when vegetarian trays are the most popular in the year. On average, a vegetarian tray costs from 500,000 - 700,000 VND, if the tray has a variety of dishes and is elaborately decorated, it can cost up to millions.

In Vinh city alone, there are about 15 large and small vegetarian restaurants. According to research, many restaurants currently accept daily vegetarian dishes and vegetarian trays on weekdays. However, the peak season is still Vu Lan season, when the number of people ordering vegetarian trays is very large.

Online catering service attracts customers

The custom of worshiping the Full Moon of July has become a beautiful traditional feature. "The whole year has the Full Moon of July, the whole family has the Full Moon of January", so on this occasion, almost every family prepares offerings to their ancestors. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In people's minds,Full moon of the seventh lunar monthy (also known as Vu Lan festival) has become a spiritual beauty, with profound humanistic meaning, always respected by people to show respect to grandparents and ancestors. This is considered an important occasion, so people buy offerings to offer to their ancestors.

This year, the COVID-19 epidemic is complicated, Nghe An is implementing social distancing, so direct shopping at the market is limited, the service of ordering offerings online for the Full Moon festival is sought by many people. Accordingly, customers only need to call or text to order, on the appointed day the restaurant will deliver the offerings to their home, no need to go to the crowded market to shop but still have a neat and complete offering ceremony.

The restaurant on Phan Chu Trinh Street is closed for the pandemic but still accepts online orders for offerings to celebrate the 15th of the 7th lunar month. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Ms. Nguyen Tuyet Chinh (Ha Huy Tap Ward, Vinh City) said: “Even though I have a grocery voucher, I still limit going out as much as possible at this time. To celebrate the Full Moon Festival, I chose the online tray ordering service of a restaurant on Phan Dinh Phung Street including: Chicken sticky rice, banh troi, green bean sweet soup. In addition, I also ordered fruits and incense from clean food stores, they selected and arranged them on the tray for me. On the afternoon of the 14th lunar day, they delivered the food to my place, I just need to go home and prepare and it's done.”

Grasping that need of customers,online full moon tray ordering serviceMany kitchens and restaurants in Vinh city have "blossomed". Since the end of the sixth lunar month, on fanpages, Facebook, and Zalo of individuals and restaurants, they have posted information about taking orders for banquets, providing menus for customers to choose from and order.

Many restaurants are overloaded with orders for Full Moon offerings, so they have stopped accepting orders earlier than expected to prepare ingredients, process them, and deliver them to customers. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Browsing through the Full Moon offering service pages, the menu is diverse: chicken sticky rice, trays full of cooked or pre-processed dishes, fruit trays... with quite diverse prices. Accordingly, a chicken sticky rice tray costs from 350,000 - 500,000 VND; lotus seed sweet soup 15,000 VND/bowl; green bean sweet soup 10,000 VND/bowl, chicken offering with fairy wings 250,000 - 300,000 VND/chicken; a full offering tray costs 700,000 - 1,000,000 VND/tray.

Ms. Nguyen Tra Giang, owner of a restaurant on Phan Dinh Phung Street, said: “Compared to previous years, this year online orders have increased dramatically, 3-4 times higher than previous years because people are reluctant to go shopping at the market. Although the input prices of some items for the offerings have increased, we still keep the same prices as previous years.”

Fruit shops also accept online orders and ship for Full Moon offerings. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In addition to vegetarian and non-vegetarian trays, fruit and flower trays are also made to order, decorated and delivered to your door by fruit shop owners at various prices. According to business owners, customers have been placing orders since the beginning of the month, but the peak is on the 14th and 15th of the lunar calendar.

In the context of the complicated epidemic, instead of going to the market and jostling to buy and sell, the online tray service has somewhat reduced the number of people on the street, helping families have a neat and complete tray of food to worship their ancestors on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month.