As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, a 50-day mooncake ordering fair has kicked off in Maoming, Guangdong, one of China's major mooncake production hubs. According to the Maoming Food Industry Association, orders for mooncakes and mooncake fillings from overseas have increased by 20% compared to the same period last year.
According to China News Service, Maoming is a major agricultural city, and its abundant agricultural resources provide raw materials for mooncake production. Maoming's Huazhou Tuoluo Cake originated during the Tang Dynasty's Zhenguan era and has a history of more than 1,300 years, while Diancheng Fried Rice Cake preserves the traditional techniques used in making "Lady Xian's Army Ration."
According to statistics, Maoming currently has 252 mooncake production enterprises, nearly 100 types of mooncakes, an annual output of about 30,000 tons, and annual output value exceeding 4 billion RMB (2.348 billion MYR).
The Maoming Food Industry Association said that the 50-day mooncake ordering fair has already begun, with orders for mooncakes and mooncake fillings from overseas up by 20% year-on-year. It is anticipated that total mooncake sales this year will increase by over 30% compared to last year.
According to Maoming Customs, Guangzhou Restaurant Group Liangfengyuan (Maoming) Food Co., Ltd. (referred to as: Liangfengyuan), the only enterprise in Maoming exporting mooncakes and mooncake fillings, began exporting its products to the United States, South Africa, Canada and other places as early as May this year, with total overseas orders up 20% compared to the same period last year.
Li Haiting, Deputy Manager of the Marketing Department at Liangfengyuan, stated that overseas customers favor traditional Chinese mooncake fillings such as lotus seed paste, black sesame paste, and red bean paste, with the most popular exported mooncakes being double yolk and single yolk pure white lotus seed paste mooncakes and red bean paste mooncakes. Export of these mooncakes and fillings typically continues until the end of August.