Moon Cake Price Slashed but Sales Remain Lackluster
As of the evening of September 17th (the 15th day of the 8th lunar month), moon cake stalls on many streets in Ho Chi Minh City, such as Quang Trung (Go Vap District), Hung Vuong (District 5), and Nguyen Van Cu (District 1), still had a considerable amount of unsold cakes, despite previous promotional discount programs.
Moon cakes have been on sale for over a month, but the sluggish sales persist. According to Mr. Nguyen Van Vinh, a seller on Nguyen Tri Phuong Street, purchasing power this year has decreased by about a third compared to last year. Although some promotional programs have been applied, they have only had a minor impact.
Moon cakes with one yolk discounted to VND 30,000 per cake (Photo: Kieu Oanh)
“This could be due to the economic recession, resulting in weak purchasing power. People are buying later than usual, and overall, this year has been very slow; it has never been this slow before,” shared Mr. Vinh.
In recent days, seeing the unfavorable situation, moon cake stalls continuously slashed prices, hoping to sell all the cakes before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Ms. Le Thi Kim Ngoc, a salesperson at a stall on Hung Vuong Street (District 5), said: “At the beginning of the season, moon cakes with one yolk were around VND 40,000, while those with two yolks weighing 210gr were priced at VND 70,000 – 90,000, and those with two yolks weighing 250gr or more were VND 120,000 – 170,000. As we are approaching the end of the season, we are offering discounts, with one-yolk cakes at VND 30,000 and two-yolk cakes at VND 40,000.”
Customers buying moon cakes remain scarce even close to the festival (Photo: Kieu Oanh)
Many sellers attribute the significant decrease in moon cake consumption compared to last year to the challenging economic situation. Furthermore, Typhoon Yagi’s landfall in the North and its peripheral circulation caused severe damage, leading many places to postpone Mid-Autumn Festival programs to allocate funds to support affected communities. Additionally, many companies have cut back on giving moon cakes to their employees, causing a loss of customers for some moon cake brands…
Consumers Tighten Their Belts
When asked about her demand for moon cakes, Ms. Hoai An, a resident of District 1, shared that her family wanted to save costs during this holiday. Instead of buying cakes for the festival, they could use the money, a few hundred thousand dong for a box of cakes, to go out as a family or do other things. Perhaps this is also the mentality of many families, resulting in fewer customers at moon cake stalls compared to previous years.
Prices have been significantly reduced, but there are still very few buyers (Photo: Kieu Oanh)
“People don’t feel the need, and they see that spending on other things is more worthwhile, so they choose not to buy or buy less. Instead of buying cakes for their families to eat and give as gifts, people now only buy enough to give as presents, and the rest they will either not eat or vice versa,” said Ms. Hoai An.
Nevertheless, to meet the diverse demands of customers, especially young people, moon cake brands have tried to create new and unique designs to attract customers, offering various promotional programs, discounts, free cakes, and lanterns… Additionally, the prices are also varied, ranging from affordable to luxurious and expensive cakes.
Attractive designs with a range of price points (Photo: Kieu Oanh)
Mr. Thach Hai Dang, a resident of Go Vap, shared that he usually buys moon cakes to give to partners, relatives, and colleagues, considering brand reputation, product quality, and design.
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