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Mooncake sales stale despite juicy offer
Mooncake sales in Ho Chi Minh City have increased by only 20 to 25 percent since a special “buy one, get one free” offer was launched, according to three vendors.
A week out from the Mid-Autumn Festival, mooncake shops throughout the city have put their goods on sale, trying to increase their earnings before the festival this Sunday.
The treat, a staple of the annual holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, went on sale earlier this week after suppliers allowed sellers to return un-purchased cakes.
Do Thi Lan, a mooncake retailer on Cach Mang Thang Tam Street, said fewer customers were buying the delicacy from her shop this year. She estimated she only had about 30 percent of the customers she had last year, with none of them making bulk purchases.
Lan said she had lowered her prices because she wanted to sell all of the cakes as soon as possible.
Several years ago, such sales were only offered after the mid-autumn day had passed. In the past two years, the cakes went on sale one or two days prior to the festival day.
Mooncake makers such as Dong Hung Vien, Thanh Long and Sweet Home Bakery said surging prices had forced consumers to cut back on spending.
Some retailers reported they could only sell 30-70 percent of the amount they had bought from suppliers, even after reducing their orders by 20 percent from last year.
Lai Hoai Phuong, owner of the Dong Hung Vien Mooncake Factory, said most producers had forecast a sales drop for the festival season this year.
However, as sellers all wanted to capture the market, they spent a lot of money to promote the products, which gave a false impression that the market would be strong, Phuong said.
Customer Pham Van Thanh said last year he spent VND600,000 (US$36) on mooncakes for his parents, in-laws and school teachers.
“This year, my wife and I will give the mooncakes we received from our companies to our parents, and we are still considering whether we should buy mooncakes for our children’s teachers,” he said. “My children haven’t enjoyed a single bite of mooncake this year.”
Thanh is an office worker with a monthly income of VND2.8 million ($169).
It was estimated at the beginning of the festival season that 7,500 to 8,000 tons of mooncakes worth about VND2.3 trillion ($139 million) would be sold in Vietnam during this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival.
Thanhnien
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