HIGHLIGHTS
- As a highly seasonal commodity, moon cakes usually appear mainly from the beginning of July to the middle of August of the lunar calendar, in addition, this period falls at a time when many provinces are implementing social distancing. Therefore, the production of mooncakes faces many difficulties.
- In recent days, the epidemic situation has gradually become better, some shops have started to reopen.
- Mooncake brands choose to sell online and deliver directly to consumers in order to best support customers in purchasing and accessing products.
FULL ARTICLE
Difficulties from the production stage
As a highly seasonal commodity, moon cakes usually appear mainly from the beginning of July to the middle of August of the lunar calendar, in addition, this period falls at a time when many provinces are implementing social distancing. Therefore, the production of mooncakes faces many difficulties.
The first difficulty is forecasting customer demand when the current main needs of consumers are mainly focused on essential household items. In addition, the reduced income of many families due to the work-from-home policy has made mooncakes accidentally become a luxury item for many people, especially freelancers. Many shop owners are quite afraid to produce in large quantities, some moon cake manufacturers in Hanoi said that this year they only dare to produce 20% of the output compared to every year.
Second, the source of materials is limited because the supply is not guaranteed to make room for essential goods. The difficulty in transportation during the distance caused the price to be pushed up by about 20%, people who wanted to buy had to accept a high price.
Third, the source of on-site labor is reduced because workers do not have travel documents or have returned to their hometown at the beginning of the epidemic season, causing production facilities to fall into a situation that they can’t produce much because of the lack of workers.
Output has positive signs
In Hanoi, at the beginning of the 8th lunar month, in some streets such as Ba Trieu, Ly Thuong Kiet or Thuy Khue, which are busy during the Mid-Autumn Festival, there is only one shop selling mooncakes of Ha Noi Confectionery Joint Stock Company.
In recent days, the epidemic situation has gradually become better, some shops have started to reopen. On September 19, hundreds of people queued up to buy mooncakes at Chu Van An Primary School (Thuy Khue Street, Tay Ho District). Because the number of people gathered at the same time was too large and the distance was not guaranteed, the authorities had to arrange forces to regulate and remind. To ensure safety, functional forces coordinated with business establishments to erect fences for people to wait in line to get the number in order.
Overcrowding also occurs in Ho Chi Minh City, a lot of people wait in line to buy mooncakes. At Nhu Lan store on Hai Ba Trung Street (District 3), the shopping scene was also busy. There are many ward officers monitoring and reminding shoppers to keep a safe distance. Delivery staff put the goods in the basket in front of the store for customers to receive, limiting close contact.
Online sales channel ascends the throne
In order to satisfy the needs of the people, mooncake brands choose to sell online and deliver directly to consumers in order to best support customers in purchasing and accessing products.
Traditional confectionery companies that are familiar to consumers for many years, such as Kinh Do, Hai Ha, Huu Nghi, and Thu Huong, are promoting online sales through many e-commerce transaction sites with various types, prices from a few tens of thousands to several hundred thousand per unit. Many traditional mooncake manufacturers have also started switching to online sales channels via Facebook, Zalo, etc. with home delivery service.
To support and accompany consumers during the epidemic season, most of Hai Ha’s mooncake products have maintained stable prices, despite a significant increase in input materials. Specifically, the average price of cakes ranges from 50,000 – 80,000 VND/piece; High-end cakes range from 300,000 to 750,000 VND/piece. Many businesses have launched combos of mooncake boxes for 2021, with prices ranging from 150,000 VND to less than 1,000,000 VND. In general, the price of Mooncake 2021 is quite reasonable, diverse with many combo options.
Minh Duc
