Stable purchasing power, high prices

A festival atmosphere is prevailing across Ho Chi Minh City, from Districts 5 & 6 to Binh Thanh and Phu Nhuan. Street shops decorated with colourful posters are selling moon cakes by big name producers such as Kinh Do, Dong Khanh, Nhu Lan and Thang Long.

Nguyen Xuan Luan, deputy general director of the Kinh Do Bakery JSC, says all his agents have been placing bulk orders with the company since early August. Decreasing inflation has had a positive impact on consumer income and spending power, which has, in turn, helped fuel market demand.

As the moon cake market is seasonal and the products are often used as gifts, the orders and product volume are forecast to remain steady or even increase. Kinh Do Bakery expects to put 2,100 tonnes of moon cakes on the market, while the Bien Hoa Confectionery Corporation (Bibica) plans to churn out 500 tonnes this season.

This year’s cakes will cost 5-10 percent more than last year due to the high cost of ingredients such as sugar and eggs, as well as packaging. As a result, an average box of four moon cakes will sell for between VND100,000-400,000 while more upmarket cakes will go for between VND1-2.2 million per box.

Twenty new types of moon cakes will be introduced this year made from nutritious and healthy all natural and low-fat ingredients.

Many cake producers have also poured investment into new packaging designs to attract consumers. Bibica is offering lantern-shaped boxes that can be used by children after the cakes are eaten, while Kinh Do Bakery is introducing elegant wooden boxes with intricate decorations.

Cakes of unknown origin

In addition to cakes made on closed production lines that meet food safety and hygiene regulations, the market is now flooded with low quality products of unknown origin. They can be found on display along HCM City’s gateways to western and eastern provinces, or at wholesale markets in Tan Binh district and Districts 5 & 6.

These cakes have no labels or “sell by” dates, and are offered at cheap prices. Baked and glutinous rice cakes with egg yolks cost between VND14,000-25,000 each, and those without egg yolks sell for VND8,000 apiece. Some cakes are even labelled in Chinese either with or without a manufacturing date.

Binh Tay market in District 6 also sells a variety of packaging materials, stamps, and moisture resistance sachets imported from Taiwan. Consumers should be on the lookout for traders that try to trick them by selling low-grade cakes in high-end boxes and claim they are from well-known brands such as Kinh Do and Dong Khanh.

Several moon cake websites have launched promotions since late July to grab consumer attention. However, the quality of the cakes on offer is not certified because these websites are not licensed. Their cakes are mostly home made and of unknown origin, but masked by Kinh Do, Nhu Lan and Dong Khanh labels.

Nguyen Xuan Luan, deputy director of Kinh Do Bakery, says his company has never sold any product online, and websites claiming to sell Kinh Do cakes are not distributors or direct agents of the company.

He recommends that consumers purchase moon cakes at the company’s agent chains and supermarkets across the country to ensure they buy the real product.