Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) - Ho Chi Minh City's mooncake market is entering its busiest stretch of the year, with the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching and demand climbing for both personal consumption and gifting.
Traditional mooncakes are sharing shelf space with new varieties offering bolder flavors and less sugar. Retailers are backing the shift with a wave of promotions to draw in shoppers.
Mooncake stalls on city streets, in shops and inside malls are busier than usual. Retailers have expanded display space, moved products to more visible spots, and rolled out promotions to push sales through the season's final days.
The product lineup has expanded well beyond tradition, with coffee, green tea, bamboo charcoal and rose flavors now sitting alongside lava egg yolk, cheese and tiramisu fillings. Smaller, cheaper portions are also more widely available, making it easier for shoppers to sample different varieties.
Demand for retail mooncakes has shown strong growth, especially in the season's final peak days, an AEON Vietnam representative said.
Notably, more products now come in 150-250gram sizes, aimed at individual and family consumption rather than large gift boxes, a segment suited to shoppers who just want to sample a few varieties.
Health-conscious shoppers also drive demand as products with clear origins, lower sugar and fat, and those free of preservatives or gluten are attracting more attention.
Premium mooncakes from hotels and legacy brands still command a separate market built almost entirely on gifting. At AEON, brands including Nikko, Sofitel and Sheraton remain packaged in elegant gift boxes aimed at shoppers buying for relatives, business partners and clients.
Retailers are leaning hard into end-of-season promotions to clear inventory. Deals like buy-two-get-one-free and buy-one-get-one-free, often paired with complimentary gifts, are now common across outlets.
WinCommerce's Mamahi brand has cut prices 20-30%, bringing individual cakes down to roughly 40,000-60,000 VND (1.5-2.3 USD). A company representative said the discounts are less about boosting sales than about spreading the brand and putting traditional flavours within reach of more families.
WinCommerce is also staging lantern processions, lion dances, drum performances and traditional games to build festival atmosphere in its stores./.
