ear, the slow economy has intensified competition in the market for moon cakes which are traditionally eaten during Mid-Autumn Festival.As prices rise and consumer spending decreases, competition in the market for Mid-Autumn Festival moon cakes has reached fever pitch. For confectionery firms, Mid-Autumn Festival is the second biggest holiday in the year and that is why enterprises spend a lot in promotions and attractive packaging.
This year, Kinh Do Bakery plans to export five containers of moon cakes to the US and Cambodia and produce 2,400 tons of cakes for the local markets, a year-on-year increase of 15 percent, at retail price from VND30,000-100,000.
Kinh Do focuses on luxury cakes for gifts. For instance, a package of ‘Trang Vang Kim Cuong’ (Diamond gold moon) with 12 cakes costs VND2,500,000 (US$119) or ‘Trang Vang Bach Kim’ (Platinum gold moon) with six cakes and a tin of Wulong Tea at VND1,200,000 (US$57).
Bien Hoa Confectionery Company (Bibica) has launched 550 tons of moon cakes in the market, an increase of 10 percent against the same period last year. Its luxury cakes range from VND790,000 (US$37.5) to VND1.2 million (US$57).
Other well-known brand names, namely, Dong Khanh, Nhu Lan, Duc Phat, Givral, Vinabico, Hy Lam Mon have also launched their products in the market.
In addition to beating each other on the price front, confectionery firms attract customers with lure of different fillings. For instance, Kinh Do makes moon cakes filled with strawberry jam, grapefruit marmalade or sugared lotus seeds.
Thanh Long confectionery manufactures moon cakes with five fruits, namely, banana, oranges, kumquats, pomelos, and finger citrons or Indian taro coconut fillings to satisfy the varied tastes of consumers.
