Starting after the full moon of the seventh lunar month, many streets in Hanoi have seen the appearance of stalls selling moon cakes of many different brands. On the “online market”, this type of cake that only appears once a year is also being sold everywhere.

However, besides the traditional cakes weighing from 100-200 grams, "giant" moon cakes weighing from 500-700 grams, as big as a pizza, have also entered the market.

Notably, the "super-giant" mooncakes produced by bakeries range in price from 250,000-500,000 VND/cake depending on the filling. Meanwhile, Chinese products are advertised as "premium" by vendors but are dirt cheap, only 50,000-60,000 VND/cake.

moon cake
Giant mooncakes hit the market at super cheap prices. Photo: NVCC

Accordingly, on online markets, the traders of this "giant" moon cake said that the baked cake has a super thin crust, the filling is made from delicious taro, full of fatty salted egg floss and very attractive chewy mochi. When eaten, the salty taste of the cake combined with the sweet taste is loved by many people.

Ms. Ngo Thi Cuc - a moon cake seller in Linh Dam (Hoang Mai, Hanoi) said that this super giant moon cake is a domestic product from Taipei (Taiwan, China). She has been importing the cake to sell since the middle of the 6th lunar month until now.

However, the season for moon cakes begins on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. Therefore, this type of baked cake is also more popular.

When she first imported the cakes, the price was 90,000 VND/cake. Now, the price has dropped to 60,000 VND/cake bought individually, and buying a box of 12 cakes costs only 55,000 VND/cake.

According to Ms. Cuc, compared to the price of the same type of cake produced domestically, moon cakes originating from China are super cheap. Therefore, this type of moon cake from Taipei is bought a lot by families with average income.

"A moon cake weighing up to 0.5kg costs only a few tens of thousands, enough for a family of 4-5 people to eat," she added.

moon cake
The seller advertises that everything from the crust to the filling is "premium". Photo: NVCC

Ms. Cuc also said that the cakes have a shelf life of 45 days. But at the moment, the imported goods are sold out as soon as they arrive. Some imported goods are only enough to pay for pre-orders. Because she sells many different products, she can only import 3 shipments of Taipei mooncakes each week, with the total number of cakes sold being around 500.

Similarly, when sharing about this giant but cheap Chinese mooncake, Ms. Ho Thi Anh in Bac Tu Liem (Hanoi) said: "The goods are selling like hotcakes because they are cheap."

Ms. Anh said that this giant moon cake is a domestic product from Taipei and is imported by retailers to sell in the Vietnamese market. This is also the third season she has sold this type of moon cake.

“This year, sales are much better than the 2023 Mid-Autumn Festival,” she shared. Last year, she sold about 1,500 mooncakes of this type. At this point, even though it is almost a month before the 15th of August, she has sold 2,000 mooncakes. Many of them were pre-ordered to get the goods near the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Although these moon cakes are widely sold in the market and are popular with consumers, many people are concerned about their quality and food safety because the packaging and labels of these moon cakes are all in foreign languages.

In mid-August, the Hanoi Market Management Department inspected and temporarily seized hundreds of moon cakes of unknown origin at a confectionery store in La Phu commune (Hoai Duc, Hanoi).

At the time of the inspection, the inspection team discovered that the store was selling foreign-made moon cakes without invoices or documents as required by law. These were baked cakes, weighing 500 grams each, with labels in foreign languages. These cakes were then temporarily detained for handling according to the law.

Next, the Hanoi Market Management force also discovered and seized 5,000 smuggled moon cakes in Hai Ba Trung district.

Despite the Mid-Autumn Festival, stalls selling mooncakes on the sidewalks of Hanoi are flooded with discounted mooncakes, priced from only 10,000 to 35,000 VND each. However, not all stalls have many customers asking to buy.