中秋节意味着月饼生意

The Chinese mid-autumn festival is Monday. Moon cakes are the traditional treat to add sweetness to the occasion. The cakes are not simply for eating; they symbolize family reunion, and could be a catalyst for friendship or commercial partnership.

For a trade company employee, Mu Pengchao, the period before Mid-Autumn Festival is another major shopping season. This year, relatively-high CPI figures have had no impact on his company's plan to buy moon cakes. For consumers like him, the price of moon cakes is actually not a concern because the dessert is a gift that must be purchased for commercial partners and people in the company's business network.

Mu said,"Mid-Autumn Festival is a big day for our commercial network because it provides a good opportunity to reconnect with old business partners and reach out to potential patrons. Moon cakes are always the best gifts to show our goodwill. Price is not our concern."

Due to the increasing cost of ingredients, the prices of some moon cakes are supposed to go up. However, according to a number of retailers, this year many moon cake factories have actually reduced the cost of packaging, in order to offset the increasing cost of raw materials. Retailers have not see any obvious jump in moon cake prices.

Liu Caixia, manager of Cuiwei supermarket, said, "A big difference from last year is that we barely see any moon cakes with more than three layers of packaging. Even the high-end moon cake boxes only include a container and a separate paper or plastic bag.The trend of decoration is simpler and less elaborate. "

Mid-Autumn Festival only comes once a year, and spending on moon cakes is a time honored custom, either as a gift or as a desert for one's own family dinner table. Two to three hundred yuan per box may be still the most popular price range, and the best sellers for retailers in the Beijing area.

Beijing resident Ms. Jiao said, "The price range of moon cakes I can afford is two to three hundred yuan as a gift. They look good enough."

Like other moon cake shoppers, for Mu Pengchao, the shopping trip is a pre-holiday work-related duty. He and his co-worker will deliver a load of moon cake boxes to commercial partners right before Mid-Autumn Festival.