According to records, this year's market started later than previous years. If in 2023, the market started at the end of the 6th lunar month, this year, even though it is past the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, there are only a few stalls selling cakes.

Traditional brands "enter the market" early, prices increase slightly

According to a survey by reporters from the Industry and Trade Newspaper, on major streets such as Hoang Quoc Viet (Cau Giay), Ba Trieu, Thanh Nhan (Hai Ba Trung), Thuy Khue (Tay Ho), To Huu, Nguyen Thanh Binh (Ha Dong), etc., moon cake stalls are appearing more and more. Traditional brands such as Kinh Do, Huu Nghi, Hai Ha, Hanoi Cakes and Candies, etc. are the brands that opened the earliest cake stalls this Mid-Autumn Festival.

Even though the 15th of July has passed, moon cake stalls are still 'sparse'

A sales staff at Kinh Do mooncake stall on Hoang Quoc Viet Street (Cau Giay) said: "Although Kinh Do only started setting up its stall after the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, compared to the general level, Kinh Do is still one of the earliest brands to open for sale."

In addition, traditional cake brands such as Bao Phuong, Binh Chung, Dong Phuong, etc. have also planned to prepare goods and open for sale very early. Since the beginning of the 7th lunar month, people have been lining up at these stores to buy “old” cakes to welcome the Mid-Autumn Festival early.

Mr. Tran Van Tri (Dong Da, Hanoi) waited in line for about 30 minutes to buy a box of Bao Phuong mooncakes, sharing: "My family has been eating Bao Phuong's cakes since my grandparents' time. Although there are many new, hot-trend cakes now, we don't find them as delicious as traditional cakes."

At retail grocery stores, traditional cake brands are also attracting more customers. Ms. Nguyen Lan - owner of a grocery store on Phung Chi Kien Street (Cau Giay) commented that only traditional moon cakes retain the "flavor" of the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival of the nation.

“I started importing and selling cakes before the 15th of July to serve customers who buy them for the Full Moon festival. I import both traditional cakes from Kinh Do, Huu Nghi and some modern cake brands and handmade cakes with hot trend flavors for young people such as lava eggs, tiramisu, etc. But customers mainly choose to buy cakes with traditional flavors, modern cakes only buy 1-2 pieces to try,” said Ms. Lan.

This year, brands have launched many new lines of cakes with unique flavors and designs, so the prices of cakes have also increased slightly.

Kinh Do mooncakes cost between VND58,000-175,000/piece depending on flavor and size. Boxes of 3 to 8 cakes cost between VND285,000-790,000/box depending on flavor and box design. In addition, the brand also launched a number of high-end gift sets, including premium tea, priced between VND1-5 million/set.

Huu Nghi mooncakes are more affordable, this year the brand offers prices ranging from 58,000-115,000 VND/cake depending on the size and flavor. In particular, this year, the company launched the Momiji cake product line with hot-trend flavors, suitable for the preferences of young people, with prices ranging from 70,000-119,000 VND/120g cake.

Purchasing power is "gloomy"

This year's market is considered somewhat gloomy, even though it is the end of the 7th lunar month, the stalls are still deserted.

According to a sales staff at the Huu Nghi mooncake stall on Cau Giay Street, it has been open for 2 weeks but the number of customers coming in and out can only be "counted on the fingers".

“Every year around this time, there are always a lot of customers coming and going, including large orders from businesses. But this year, perhaps partly because the store opened late, people have not stopped by to buy much,” this employee shared.

Anticipating the purchasing power of the market this year, many grocery stores and retailers do not dare to import many goods.

Grocery stores and retailers do not dare to import many goods.

Ms. Nguyen Van Anh - owner of a retail grocery store at Nghia Tan market said: "Every year, I import many batches, the first batch will import about 200, the next batches will rely on the purchasing power of the market to import appropriately, but this year the first batch I only dared to import 100, and after half a month I still haven't sold out."

Just like the traditional market, the online market also recorded a different level of depression than previous years. On the "online" markets, although there are a variety of designs and flavors from traditional to modern, according to sellers, the number of people asking to buy is not much.

Ms. Nguyen Phuong Thao - an online moon cake seller said that although she posted nearly ten "online market" groups, she still could not reach many customers.

“I focus on selling handmade cakes that I make myself and modern cakes, but even though I have been open for nearly a month, the number of customers placing orders is still sparse. In addition to the residential market groups, I also have a page specializing in seasonal sales, but this year that page has not helped me attract as many customers as every year,” Ms. Thao confided. Ms. Thao predicted that the market will reach its "peak" around the 5th-14th of the 8th lunar month.