Mooncake market: Starting with "huge prices"

Although the Mid-Autumn Festival has just begun, many types of mooncakes with extremely high prices have appeared, up to more than 10 million VND/set of products.

Start early…

In the second half of the sixth lunar month, scattered on many streets in Hanoi such as Kim Ma, Nguyen Khanh Toan, Cau Giay… many shops selling moon cakes have appeared.

Ms. Trinh Nhu Nga, an employee at a mooncake stall on Kim Ma Street, said: “I sell about 60 cakes every day. At this time, the mooncake products launched on the market are not much different from last year. However, the price has increased slightly by 2,000 - 3,000 VND/piece.

At the stalls, there are only about 10 types of cakes with familiar flavors such as: green bean and watermelon seed mooncakes, taro and lotus seed mooncakes; coconut milk mooncakes... Vendors said that only during the peak season (from the 15th day of the 7th lunar month to the 15th day of the 8th lunar month) when cakes sell well, do the cake companies launch a variety of cake designs and flavors for customers to choose from.

Kinh Do mooncakes are commonly priced at over 50,000 VND/piece for 150g; 100,000 VND/piece for 250g; 460,000 VND/piece for 800g. The most expensive cakes are Seafood Shark Fin Baked Cake; Roasted Chicken with Sauce; Ham and Char Siu; Five Grain Chinese Lap Xuong...

Mr. Nguyen Viet Anh (Cau Giay, Hanoi) said, "I take my children to buy cakes at this time because of the family's needs and preferences. As for moon cakes as gifts, I will buy them in early August."

No difference yet, but the price is... huge

Not only did the moon cake shops of businesses like Kinh Do launch their products early, but in the high-end segment, the Daewoo Hotel in Hanoi also displayed products since August 9, 2015.

The high-end mooncakes of hotels are often elaborately decorated in form and packaging. Each mooncake box is often accompanied by tea and wine as gifts for relatives, businesses and partners.

The lowest price is 660,000 VND/box of 4 cakes with chestnut, taro, and green rice flavors. The most expensive is a box of 6 cakes with a free bottle of Macallan 18 for 13,600,000 VND. A box of 6 cakes with a free premium oolong tea costs 1,160,000 VND.

Confident about its competitiveness with other cakes on the market, the owner of Bao Phuong Mooncake shop in Thuy Khue, Hanoi said: The shop always maintains the traditional flavor to retain regular customers, creating a unique flavor of Mooncakes on the market.

Not only that, traditional moon cakes are also competitive in price: The prices of the cakes are lower than those produced by enterprises, ranging from a few thousand to a few tens of thousands of VND/piece. Baked cake with mixed sausage costs 40,000 VND/piece; Ancient baked cake with mixed ingredients costs 50,000 VND/piece; Sticky rice cake with lotus seeds and lemon leaves costs 40,000 VND/piece.

In addition, this traditional bakery increases its competitiveness by selling until 12am, serving all customers' needs. At the same time, it allows customers to see the cake making process right at the store./.

According to VOV.VN