What's new at famous mooncake shops in Ho Chi Minh City this year?

These days, we go to bakeries and moon cake shops that are very familiar to people in Ho Chi Minh City to ask about this year's business situation.

Traditional bakery in Cho Lon market sells new dishes for the first time

It is still nearly a month until the Mid-Autumn Festival, but Phuong Diem Thuan bakery owned by Mr. Phuong Trien Phong (45 years old) is famous in Cho Lon and is bustling with customers and dozens of employees. The shop is decorated eye-catchingly, attracting the attention of many people passing by on Pham Phu Thu Street (District 6).

Phuong Diem Thuan is a famous moon cake shop in Cho Lon.

Mr. Phong confided that this year, customers came to buy cakes 1-2 weeks earlier than usual, at this time, the shop has been rushing to prepare to serve the increased demand of customers. Every year, on the occasion of Mid-Autumn Festival, his family's bakery opens for 2 months. However, before that, family members and staff spent 3-4 months preparing.

According to the owner, this year the price of moon cakes at the shop has increased slightly, about 5% due to high input materials and difficulties in hiring workers. Each cake portion at the shop costs from 75,000 - 250,000 VND depending on the type and size. The most special is the moon cake portion at 780,000 VND. In particular, the shop sells many gift sets with different prices suitable for customers to give as gifts.

Giving us the menu and price list for this year's mooncakes, the owner said that the shop sells 18 different types of mooncakes. Among them, the mooncakes with pineapple filling and taro pineapple - lotus seeds are the shop's "best sellers", receiving the most support from customers, along with other traditional mooncakes with fillings such as mung bean, lotus seeds, and mixed.

Mr. Phong said that this year, customers bought moon cakes early.

"For the first time, we are selling mixed scallop mooncakes with XO sauce. For traditional bakeries like ours, selling a new dish requires careful consideration of many factors. We also have to survey to suit the taste of customers. Usually, customers who come to buy prefer the traditional taste," the owner expressed.

Not everyone knows that this moon cake shop was originally a Western cake shop (cookies, cakes...) founded by Mr. Phong's father, Mr. Phuong Diem Thuan before 1975.

Since 1987, the shop has started making moon cakes with the flavor of the Chaozhou people. His family learned the moon cake making profession from a famous bakery in Cho Lon, which no longer exists. Mr. Thuan has 10 children, 3 of whom live abroad, so the bakery is currently inherited by his other children, with Mr. Phong, the youngest son, as the main manager.

Meanwhile, Dong Hung Vien mooncake bakery located on Bai Say Street (District 6) is also bustling with mid-autumn atmosphere at this time. The bakery said that this year, customers want to buy cakes earlier than usual.

"This year we have increased the price a little due to the increase in input materials. We have kept the price the same for two consecutive years, only this year we have had to increase it by a few thousand dong," the bakery said. Each set of cakes costs from 300,000 to 400,000 dong, depending on customer demand. In addition, the shop sells more than 24 different types of moon cakes, with prices ranging from 66,000 to 205,000 dong per cake, depending on the type.

Dong Hung Vien bakery also started selling on the occasion of Mid-Autumn Festival.

Dong Hung Vien was a familiar brand to the people long before 1975, along with other brands that no longer exist such as Vinh Hung Tuong, Tan Tan, Long Xuong, Dai Chung... However, after 1975, the owner of Dong Hung Vien went to America. The two main bakers of this shop, one, Mr. Boc My Nguyen, went abroad to live, the other stayed (passed away).

The current main baker of Dong Hung Vien in Saigon (operating since 1975) is Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, who learned the trade from Mr. Boc My Nguyen, and the Dong Hung Vien shop here is no longer related to the owner of the Dong Hung Vien brand in the US.

Many unique gift sets

RuNam d'Or Restaurant - Cafe (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) these days is filled with the Mid-Autumn Festival atmosphere when customers just step inside and see a counter displaying unique and eye-catching Mid-Autumn Festival gift sets.

This year, the RuNam mooncake gift sets are inspired by Vietnamese lullabies and stories from ancient times, each gift is a message for the recipient to freely explore. The main product in the gift set is the Stage Cabinet.

Eye-catching gift sets at RuNam d'Or

The gift box structure was researched and launched by RuNam in 2020, inspired by the combination of a furniture product and a moon cake box. Up to now, Stage Cabinet has had 5 years of development and conveying many different themes such as: festivals, architecture or theater.

Restaurant manager Timothée Rousselin said that this year, the Stage Cabinet is made in the Art Nouveau style (a style of applied art popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries). In addition, many other gift sets are inspired by moonlight and lanterns with the bold colors of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Mooncake gift boxes here range in price from a few hundred to a few million VND, depending on the customer's needs. The most special gift set costs about 3.2 million VND, according to the manager of RuNam d'Or.

Every year, Ms. Thanh Thao (24 years old, living in Thu Duc City) often buys traditional mid-autumn gift sets to give as gifts. This year, she decided to buy a more creative set, when she accidentally saw RuNam's creative gift set on social media.

“I have researched and planned to order a gift set under 1 million VND, and have already chosen it. This weekend I plan to come here with my friends for a drink, and I will also buy some to take home. Going there to buy it in person will give me a better experience,” she said.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cac-tiem-banh-trung-thu-nuc-tieng-tphcm-nam-nay-co-gi-la-185240814102338608.htm