The Mooncake EconomyAs every other traditional festival’s food, such as the "Panettone" and "Pandoro" for Italian Christmas, or the turkey for the Thanksgiving day in USA, the mooncake represents an important percentage of revenue for those companies specialized in its production.
An interesting point of view on the mooncakes and, consequently, on the festival they represent, the Lunar festival, is about their business implications and their impact on the economy.
They are a very special product, not just because of their taste, but because they are sold for just a limited period during the year, the 2 weeks preceding the Mid Autumn Day. Statistics show that, unlikely other traditional foods, this special pastry doesn’t suffer from a decrease of sales but, on the contrary, its sales keep increasing, making the fortune of many pastry shops. For example, in year 2006, statistics reported a sales growth of 20-30%, depending on the kind of mooncakes. It seems that the new trend is to produce "snowy" mooncakes.
Unfortunately, this year Chinese families will face an unexpected surprise inside the mooncake, and it’s not one of the many new fillings pastry shops are creating to catch up to the fast paced competition among producers; it’s about the rising of the prices of raw materials. Some brands have increased their prices in such a way that required the intervention of the authorities, who were trying to convince bakers to keep the prices within an acceptable limit.
Under a business point of view, the mooncake is definitely a relevant voice in the economy: apart from the part strictly related to the ingredients, another part that counts in this business is the packaging.
In fact there isn’t just 1 kind of mooncakes, but many: several kind of exterior appearance, always respecting the traditional round shape, and several packaging options, each of them with a different pricing, that can also be very high.
According to experts, now that the economy is going well, people tend to buy more expensive mooncakes, with prestigious packaging. For example, it’s possible to find in the shops mooncakes covered by a golden robe, or inside a box made of handmade paper, with images from the ancient China, such as myths.
Mooncakes are also relevant when trying to build up a network in China or, if already existing, maintaining good guanxi relations with your network. In China is very important, when doing business, to keep alive good interpersonal relations. In facts, Chinese value the personal relations to such an extent they don’t do business without having built a personal relationship before. One of the things that you have to do in order to build or maintain your guanxi network is to exchange gifts with your local counterpart. Usually both will exchange something typical from the Country or region where they come from, ranging from handmade artifacts to food. Nowadays one of the current trends in gift giving is the mooncake. Manufacturers are starting to produce more and more expensive boxes, with unique design and precious material, such as gold. The mooncakes itself can also be filled with many expensive products. High level boxes of mooncakes can cost over 100$. Giving to the local counterpart an expensive box of mooncakes show the consideration and the appreciation for the Chinese culture, making easier all the business process.
Finally, it’s interesting to note that the "mooncake economy" is far from being confined within the boundaries of China. Local producers have now to face a new competitor, active in China since last year, and surely with the right numbers to count a lot in this business: Disney Corporation.
For the joy of thousands of Chinese children Disney, after an agreement with a local manufacturer, started its activity in the mooncake field by designing the packages of its mooncakes with images of Mickey Mouse and other famous cartoons. Their business is just at the beginning, but they have the right potential.
