Three years ago, the market saw over 50 brand names and hundreds of types of high class to popular cakes. Companies overwhelming the market share included Kinh Do, Bibica, Givral, Brodard, Dai Phat and Nhu Lan.
Other nationwide producers divide the remaining part, comprising confectionary companies, household production, restaurants and hotels such as Thanh Long, Huu Nghi, Dong Khanh, Hy Lam Mon, Phuc Long, ABC, Duc Phat, Thu Huong, Tous Les Jours, Fresh Garden, New World, Sofitel, Windsor, Equatorial, Shang Palace, White Palace and REX.
This year, the segment has seen many newcomers. Products with decades old brand names and made with huge volume are called industrial cakes while those made with small volume are called handmade products having no preservative expiry date of 1-2 weeks.
Handmade cakes have become the main consumption trend of the full moon festival season this year with lot of selling spots and websites.
In addition, the market has seen foreign brand names from Malaysian, Taiwanese and Hong Kong producers. Malaysian businesses have applied low cost policy to target popular consumers.
This year, the number of full moon cake selling spots have reduced accounting for one third of that in previous years. The owner of a shop in D1 street, Ward 25, Binh Thanh district said that at this time three years back, the shop sold 200 boxes of cake a day. Last year, the sales reduced by 30 percent. Therefore, the shop has ordered much less than before because of weak purchasing power.
Some supermarkets in the city have increased discount up to 30 percent for customers ordering large volume since the beginning of the full moon cake season. The public relation director of a big supermarket system said that the discount hike aimed to prevent from falling in the unsold condition like last year when purchasing power started saturating and dropping.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thuy, owner of Thanh Long confectionary establishment, said that previously full moon cakes sales hiked 10-20 percent year by year. However it has sharply fallen since last year. Customers who are businesses and organizations have chosen small and low cost types with the price of VND200,000-300,000 a box instead of VND600,000-700,000 as in previous years.
Handmade products popular
A full moon cake shop in Highway 50, HCMC (Photo: SGGP)
In Hanoi, Mondelez Kinh Do Vietnam said that the company has launched 84 types of cakes for this full moon festival while Bibica said it has supplied 600 tons of 60 types, up 10 percent over last year.
Despite big supply, Sai Gon Giai Phong reporters in Hanoi surveyed the market and found that purchasing power has saturated and cake makers have started cutting their prices.
This year, lot of consumers have been favour of handmade products, saying they are more tasty and less sweet and have no presevative. Products of big comapnies usually use preservative as they are produced months before the full moon festival season starts.
Last year, handmade cake making establishments sold their products very well. However that has not been like that this year. Customers have no longer long queued in front of well known Bao Phuong traditional cake making shop in Thuy Khue street as there are many new handmade establishments.
