Why Mooncakes is Expensive and People Still Buy?

15 August is around the corner!

What so special about this date?

Well, in the lunar calendar, this is the date where we observed the mid-autumn festival. You will see various types of mooncakes pop up in the restaurant, hotel and so on.

What are mooncakes?

Mooncake commonly round and measure approximately around 10cm (diameter) and between 3 to 4 cm thickness. The outer of mooncake is like crust made of flour, lard, salted duck eggs, syrup, oil, sugar and water which texture can be either flaky, chewy or tender. Well depends on the baker. While the filling usually a sweet paste such as red bean, lotus and seeds. Nowadays people are more creative to create a unique filling for the mooncake.

Mooncakes Price can be ridiculously pricey for sweet desert due to seasonal treats. Despite the exorbitant price, mooncakes always in demand when the season comes.

Why Mooncakes is Expensive and People Still Buy?

1. Perfect Branding 

People commonly relate to mooncake as "premium" items. The taste of the mooncakes from 5 or 6 stars hotel may be the same with less popular bakery but when it comes to the gifting of mooncakes, mostly prefer to present premium items as part of delivering sincerity and respect which is highly important in Chinese Culture. Most popular restaurant and hotels depend on their brands' reputation to charge premium price mooncakes.

2. Seasonal Items

Mooncakes are not an all year round product. It only comes when the season comes. Its is impossible to buy the mooncakes early and stockpile until the time comes for gifting since the items are perishable. Most mooncake sellers can charge high price since the demand is always available for them. Lowering the price may not be a good option since this won't make much difference.

3. No Substitute for Mooncakes

Imagine you present your client a dumpling instead of mooncakes during mid-autumn festival. Well, this incident may be a similar situation a boyfriend present a bag of potato chips instead of chocolates during Valentines Day. 

As for me, I prefer the mooncake premium box collection to store my accessories instead of eating the mooncake itself. Why? It is hard to get good and delicious mooncakes. Due to the reason mentioned, many people exploit this seasonal item to sell at a high price and being ignorant in the quality of this sweet treat.

In my previous office, I would say no to substandard mooncakes and only purchase mooncakes from a bakery who have a strong advocate of being product misrepresentation and honest in selling their mooncakes. 

One of the good reputation mooncakes producers who still maintain a high quality and delicious mooncakes is Bing Liang Bakery.  What attracts me to get the mooncake from them? I love their pledge to Best Value - Don't pay exorbitant amounts for mediocre mooncakes.

Bing Liang also provide mooncakes customization such as premium box and flavoured too.

pssstttt!!! some Hotels and Restaurants get their mooncake from them too. :)