The Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for mooncakes, a baked pastry that symbolises family reunions and which is traditionally consumed as part of the celebrations.
Despite the difficult economic situation this year caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, mooncake sales have started early with confectionery companies launching many new flavours and diverse designs and packaging in addition to traditional favourites.
Companies have also tried to stimulate demand and increase convenience for customers.
Big names like ABC Bakery, Mondelez Kinh Do, Bibica, Thanh Long, Dai Phat, and Givral have already started selling though the festival is only on October 1 this year.
Dai Phat offers 38 varieties this year, with a focus on Tainwanese-flavour mooncakes with fillings like lotus seeds, coconut milk, durian, black sesame, birds’ nest, abalone, seafood, chocolate, and fruits.
ABC Bakery is offering mooncakes made from dragon fruit and coffee and ingredients imported from the US.
Kao Sieu Luc, the company’s general director, said mooncakes are traditionally made from 20 ingredients like sugar, flour, glutinous flour, melon seeds, cashew nuts, green beans, char siu, sausages, and salted eggs, but his company has created a new line using famous local agricultural products and US ones like almonds, raisins, walnuts, oats, and cheese to offer diverse choices, he said.
A Bibica Corporation spokesperson said though the pandemic is still unabated, his company would launch 600 tonnes of mooncakes, the same as last year.
There would be 60 luxury, nutritional and traditional items besides salted egg lava, mochi cake, and five-coloured green bean baked mooncake/ five-coloured green bean sticky rice mooncakes for the first time.
Although costs have increased by 5 per cent, the company has kept prices unchanged at VND39,000-165,000 (US$1.67-$7) per cake in the popular line and VND250,000-2.5 million ($10.7-$107.2) a box in the high-end line.
This article was originally published in Vietnamnet
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Source: Vietnam Insider