THE sale of mooncakes this year has drastically dropped as the Mid-Autumn Festival takes a massive hit from the Covid-19 pandemic, sellers of the traditional confection said.

They said it was regrettable that mooncakes, which are synonymous with the season, are now considered a luxury as as people struggle to put food on the table after nearly two year of living with the Covid-19 virus.

They said the manufacturers were also absorbing the rising cost of ingredients to keep the mooncakes affordable.

They added that economic uncertainties as well as home confinement over fear of infection have had an effect on sales and led some of the sellers to sell their items online.

Lum Tuck Long, founder of mooncake brand Kam Lun Tai, is one of them.

“After the Covid-19 outbreak, setting up stalls at supermarkets become unfeasible as I had to shut the stalls them each time virus cases were detected on the premises,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“This year, we have reduced the number of such booths and have chosen to set them up at larger supermarkets in the city centre.”

With the crisis still not under control, Lum said elderly customers have refrained from going out and younger people are buying mooncakes these days.

“Our online business is better than last year but as we have to pay for postage and packaging, the profits are low compared to pre-pandemic margins.”

Sales volume has dropped 50-80%, he added.

“Our business in Johor is the most affected as previously our customers came from Singapore and since they can no longer travel across the causeway, sales have dropped by up to 80%,” he said.

Lum said he used to export Kam Lun Tai mooncakes to Australia, Indonesia and Brunei but due to the pandemic, orders have significantly reduced.

“Ingredient prices have gone up and so businesses are afraid to place large orders.”

Lum said the cost of a box of mooncakes has gone up by RM6.

In-store sales is similarly discouraging at Fung Wong Biscuits, one of the country’s oldest mooncake confectioners, founded in 1909, in Petaling Street.

Fourth-generation owner Melvin Chan Yuee Soon said he is selling his products on the internet as business is bad at the stores.

Online sales have been quite good as the customers come from all over the country, he said.

“Fortunately good online business and logistics have kept up afloat.”

While online sales have been good to business, Chan said he was more accustomed doing business the old-fashioned way.

“When customers order online, we have to pack and ship the items and it takes more time to process the order. In that same time, we can serve 10 customers in the store.

“Since this is the best alternative we know, we have no other choice,” he said.

Though costs have risen, Chan he has not raised the price of his mooncakes in three years.

“Seeing the strong support from our customers, we would rather earn less and absorb the cost and produce high quality mooncakes.”

Yong Sheng gift shop project manager Ng Zhi Khai said the shop has been selling mooncakes for three weeks but a bulk of its orders were made online.

“In the past, in-store business was good because people wanted to see and taste the mooncake. Now with the pandemic, people are staying home and placing orders online,” he said.

Most of the store’s orders were from those who were unable to go home to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with their families, he added.

“Online sales have gone up by 300% compared to last year but our physical stores have been greatly affected. Only eight of our 10 stores are open.

“Before the pandemic, the sales from the eight stores would have superseded the online sales. Now, however, online sales are filling the gap for us.”

Ng said the cost of e-commerce is quite high as orders have to be packed and delivered.

“We order special packaging from China, but the shipping cost has increased several times now. A box, which used to cost RM3 to post, now costs RM8-9. – September 12, 2021.