People queue up in front of a store to buy their favorite meaty moon cakes. [Photo/Kankanews.com]

Although the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on October 4th this year, is still two months away, the moon cake market is already preparing for the century-old event. As various moon cake brands are going full steam ahead, many novel moon cakes have been introduced and have lured many customers.

This year, the overall ingredient cost of moon cakes is up from last year. According to industry insiders, the prices of sugar, lotus seeds and other materials have increased by 10% over last year. Plus, labor and packaging costs are also on the rise.

Despite this, innovative ingredients have boosted the sales of moon cakes. Shanghai’s meaty moon cake producers are at the frontline of innovation. On Nanjing Road, where China’s time-honored food brands cluster, people are seen lining up in front of several stores, hankering after the newly launched moon cakes, such as crayfish and cheese moon cakes and those stuffed with bullfrog meat and pickled cabbages. 

At the same time, the war on the moon cake market is also taking place in other cities. In Guangzhou, for instance, the strategy of IP marketing has even been incorporated in the moon cake industry. To cater to younger consumers, the images of the minions from the famous “Despicable Me” film series have been patterned on moon cake skins.