The full moon of August is deserted at the moon cake stall

Even though it's the full moon day, many moon cake stalls in Hanoi are empty of customers - Photo: LE THANH

Although today, September 17, is the full moon day of the eighth lunar month, according to Tuoi Tre Online, many moon cake shops in Hanoi such as on Dao Tan, Lieu Giai, Nguyen Trai streets... have closed.

The places that still sell cakes don't have enough varieties due to economic difficulties, plus the storms and floods, so they're afraid of unsold products.

A Kinh Do bakery stall owner on Dao Tan street said that the mixed cakes have been sold out for two days now, and the remaining types will be sold out and the shop will close early.

The selling price is still the same as the beginning of the season, such as the green bean and watermelon seed mooncake weighing 230g, priced at 72,000 VND/piece. The special 2-egg char siu ham cake costs 128,000 VND/cake...

Only hard box cakes priced at 570,000 VND/box are discounted 15% to 485,000 VND.

With 5 years of experience selling moon cakes, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hue - owner of the moon cake shop of Huu Nghi Food Joint Stock Company on Lieu Giai Street - said that moon cakes were mainly sold three weeks ago. Most of them are high-end cakes, served to customers as gifts.

As for traditional cakes, boxed cakes that are usually served to consumers for home use are consumed much slower than in previous years.

"Because the economy has not fully recovered, combined with the third storm and recent floods in the North, people are tightening their spending," Ms. Hue assessed, adding that in fact, in Hanoi, to share with people in many provinces and cities that have suffered serious damage due to floods, many primary schools, secondary schools, and residential groups, etc. do not organize the Mid-Autumn Festival for their children.

Contrary to previous years, Thuy Khue Street - where there are many establishments selling moon cakes, this year there is no scene of people lining up to buy cakes.

As reported by Tuoi Tre Online, this morning, people came in to buy cakes without having to wait. The price of cakes is almost unchanged from last year, commonly 45,000-75,000 VND/cake depending on the type.

Having just bought a box of moon cakes, Ms. Mai Ngoc Hue (Trung Kinh) said that the Mid-Autumn Festival cannot be without moon cakes and sticky rice cakes. However, the price of the cakes is still quite high compared to people's income, on average 55-70,000 VND/piece, with some special types costing up to more than 120,000 VND/piece.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ram-thang-tam-quanh-hiu-quay-banh-trung-thu-20240917123137111.htm