Red Bean Dessert Sales Unexpectedly Drop on the Seventh Night.
The Seventh Night, or the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, is a romantic festival celebrated in several East Asian countries. It is based on the legend of the cowherd and the weaver girl, who are only allowed to meet once a year on this day. In recent years, Vietnamese youth have adopted the tradition of eating red bean desserts on this day, believing it will bring them luck in love. As a result, it has become customary for young, single people to gather and eat red bean treats, hoping to end their single status.
VTC News reporters observed that on August 10 (the Seventh Night), many dessert and fast-food shops in Hanoi added red bean treats to their menus to attract customers. However, unlike previous years, the number of buyers has significantly decreased.
The owner of a dessert shop on Hang Can Street in Hoan Kiem District shared that she had prepared ingredients from 3 a.m. and opened her shop early to welcome customers. However, this year’s Seventh Night fell on a Saturday, a day off for many, resulting in low foot traffic. Despite it being past noon, there were few diners or takeaway orders.
“Every year on the Seventh Night, we have long lines of young customers buying red bean desserts in the morning. Our staff would be busy non-stop. But this year, it’s surprisingly slow. I hope more people will come in the evening,” the owner said.
She also attributed the low sales to the hot weather, which might have discouraged people from going out.
Only a handful of customers braved the heat to buy red bean desserts this morning.
This shop offers various red bean creations to satisfy different tastes, with prices ranging from 30,000 to 40,000 VND per bowl.
The shop prepared posters to attract customers.
Despite the scorching weather, some young people still braved the heat to buy red bean desserts, hoping to find love.
A delivery rider shared that last year, he received orders for 20-30 cups of red bean treats per order, sometimes handling up to 10 orders for red bean desserts in a day. However, this year has been unusually quiet, with only a few small orders so far.
“I sell red bean desserts all year round, but they are especially popular on the Seventh Night. Knowing that sales would be lower this year due to it falling on a day off, I reduced the amount of red beans I prepared to two-thirds of what I usually make. Still, I have a lot left over,” the owner said.
