The moon cake market gets bustling ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival (Photo: VNA)
Popular moon cakes of brands like Kinh Do, Huu Nghi, and Hai Ha have been on sale in the most crowded areas in Hanoi in order to meet the shopping demand of customers for the upcoming festival.
Van Dong, a salesman at the Kinh Do moon cake stall at Vincom Ba Trieu, said that although the booth opened one month earlier than last year, the number of customers buying moon cakes has more than doubled.
The prices of most moon cakes this year are 10% higher than last year. Businesses said the high price of materials is the reason behind the increasing price of moon cakes.
For products of Kinh Do, the price of a moon cake ranges from VND50,000 (US$2.14) to VND79,000 .
A representative of Long Dinh moon cake brand said the price of cakes is expected to increase by about 10 percent.
The owner of Bao Phuong moon cake bakery in Tay Ho district said the prices of some baking ingredients such as flour, rice, cooking oil, and eggs have increased by 50 percent. However, Bao Phuong is still trying to stabilise the price. The price of Bao Phuong moon cake ranges from VND40,000-VND75,000 a piece.
Along with traditional stalls, moon cakes have been also offered for sale on e-commerce platforms such Shopee, Tiki, and Lazada as to attract online customers. Consumers can easily find a wide range of handmade moon cake products with all shapes and flavours such as mixed, blueberries, tiramisu, and cheese there.
