Hanoi mooncake stalls anxiously wait for customers to buy

A customer chooses moon cakes, preferably as gifts - Photo: NGOC AN

It is noted that moon cake sales points in Hanoi are quite gloomy even though there are only 4 days left until the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Went around the moon cake stalls on To Huu street to choose to buy cakes, but because the price of moon cakes this year has increased, with the average price for brands like Kinh Do, Hai Ha, Bibica... so Ms. Lan (in Mo Lao, Ha Dong) went to each stall to choose the right product.

"I buy them for my family and send them back to my hometown as gifts for my grandparents and grandchildren in large quantities to encourage them during the storm and flood. Therefore, I want to choose a product that is affordable while still ensuring quality. The prices of moon cakes have increased this year, although not much, but in difficult times, we have to consider the price," Lan shared.

According to Ms. Hoa (Doi Can, Ba Dinh), the price of cakes has increased this year, but Mid-Autumn Festival cannot be without moon cakes for incense offering, so she still chooses to buy a few pairs of cakes for offerings and for her grandchildren.

Due to economic difficulties, the amount of purchases is also limited, so she chooses some familiar traditional flavor products such as mixed fillings, green beans, lotus seeds...

Many mooncake shops are open for sale among the trees and broken branches lying scattered on the sidewalks of Hanoi - Photo: NGOC AN

According to a market survey, most mooncakes of different brands have slightly increased in price. The price of Kinh Do mooncakes ranges from 60,000 - 100,000 VND/cake for 150g, for each box (4 pieces); Hai Ha mooncakes are 40,000 - 80,000 VND/cake...

Some traditional cakes of Hanoi such as Bao Ngoc cakes cost 60,000 - 80,000 VND/piece. Boxes are designed with 4 - 8 cakes with the theme of the names of streets and places in Hanoi, commonly priced at around 400,000 - 500,000 VND/box, with some boxes costing up to nearly 2 million VND.

Maison Cakes also designs themed boxes, priced at around 400,000 - 900,000 VND; Thu Huong 1996 cakes are 65,000 VND/piece (except for moon cakes), as well as themed boxes priced at 360,000 VND - 2 million VND/box.

Sharing with Tuoi Tre Online , Ms. Mai, who runs a bakery on Thuy Khue Street (Tay Ho), said that due to the storm, her business was affected. Some shelves collapsed, so it took time to fix them. Up to now, her stall is still cluttered with all kinds of cakes.

Some mooncake stalls affected by storms and floods had to stop selling, and the stores were empty of customers - Photo: NGOC AN

"Consumption of mooncakes is slower than in previous years. People are busy recovering from the storm, and purchasing power is generally lower this year. So even though there are only a few days left until Mid-Autumn Festival, we still have a lot of goods. I also hope that people will buy more in the last few days," Ms. Mai said.

Mr. Tuan, the owner of a mooncake stall in Hanoi, said that before the storm, a number of customers from residential areas and buildings ordered large quantities of cakes to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival for their children, so he registered the quantity and signed a wholesale contract with a large-scale manufacturer.

However, due to storms and floods and heavy damage in many localities, some places canceled the organization, so he also lost thousands of cakes. Feeling like sitting on a pile of fire because of the fear of not being able to sell while the contract was signed, he tried every way to introduce the product, connecting with volunteer units for flood areas to sell at a "softer" discount price.

Thanks to that, there are also units that place orders to give cakes to people and children in flood areas in large quantities. Accepting a lower discount, he receives better orders and hopes that in the last days he will "salvage" the investment amount.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/quay-banh-trung-thu-ha-noi-sot-ruot-ngong-khach-mua-20240913163859294.htm