Popular handmade cakes
There are about 10 days left until the Mid-Autumn Festival, while traditional cake stalls are hanging up buy-one-get-one-free promotion signs to recoup capital, the atmosphere at handmade mooncake shops is quite bustling.
These days, Ms. Tran Thi Le Uyen - owner of a bakery in Ninh Kieu District (Can Tho City) - has to work at full capacity to meet the number of moon cakes delivered to customers. Ms. Uyen assessed that this year's customer purchasing power is similar to that of 2023.
“Every year, I create new flavors to serve customers. This year, in addition to traditional and artistic cakes, I also sell mochi moon cakes. Since the beginning of the season, the store has had small, individual orders. By the end of the seventh lunar month, the number of orders increased and currently, I have sold about 7,000 moon cakes of all kinds,” said Ms. Uyen.
Even though she only sells take-away, Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Hang - owner of a handmade cake shop in Ninh Kieu district (Can Tho city) - has sold nearly 4,000 moon cakes to customers in and outside the city.
Explaining why many customers prefer to choose handmade mooncakes at the store, Ms. Hang said: “Consumer demands are getting higher and higher, especially regarding health issues. Therefore, I use natural ingredients to make cakes, avoiding preservatives. For example, purple leaves, gac fruit, gardenia powder... are used to color the cake crust, which is not only beautiful but also gives customers peace of mind when using it.”
Stop accepting applications
At Ms. Uyen's shop, traditional mooncakes are currently priced from 75,000 - 120,000 VND/cake, mochi mooncakes are 50,000 VND/cake, and artistic cakes range from 175,000 - 500,000 VND/cake, depending on size. Although it is the peak season, Ms. Uyen has stopped accepting orders for artistic cakes because it is difficult to meet the order schedule.
“The price of raw materials has increased, but most of the cake prices at the store are stable, not much different from last year. Among them, artistic moon cakes have the highest price, and customers mainly buy them as gifts because of their beautiful shape. However, the store has stopped accepting orders for artistic cakes because the production process takes a lot of time and effort,” Ms. Uyen shared.
Ms. Hang said that compared to 2023, the price of cakes this year increased from 7,000 - 15,000 VND/cake due to the price of raw materials increasing by about 20%. Accordingly, artistic moon cakes have the highest price, ranging from 200,000 - 600,000 VND/cake, depending on the weight and shape.
“Artistic cakes are expensive because the process of making them is quite elaborate, especially the decoration stage which requires meticulousness. Thanks to that, the cakes are beautiful and popular with customers. However, at present, my place only accepts orders for traditional cakes because there are still many undelivered artistic cake orders. If I accept more, in addition to not being able to meet the schedule, the quality of the cakes may also be affected,” said Ms. Hang.
