Moon cakes: from "out of the circle" to return to reality
Mooncake arena, fierce battle is in full swing.
Take the two popular "hospital moon cakes" on the market as an example. The moon cakes developed by the Shanghai Mental Health Center have been fired to a sky-high price of 1,288 yuan a box.
The Yunleg mooncakes developed by the staff canteen of the Guizhou Provincial People’s Hospital are "extremely delicious," and people can easily buy them in long queues. There are even counterfeit products on the market, which forced this "net celebrity mooncake" to finally Three-dimensional code anti-counterfeiting recognition technology is used.
This year, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine took the TCM theory of "the five colors have five flavors, and the five elements enter the five internal organs" in "The Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic" as its production concept. Green (green) into the liver, green tea with snow silk coconut flavour; watery is black into the kidneys, purple taro, sea salt and cheese; fire is red into the heart, cherry golden sand creamy yellow; earthy is yellow into the spleen, Taiwanese fragrance of jasmine" Mooncakes with five colors and flavors.
"Compared with the mooncakes with the school logo last year, the order of five-color five-flavor mooncakes has doubled this year. Now our bakery has stopped taking orders and can't make them." Zhu Wentao, assistant director of the Food Service Center of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, told reporters. At present, this mooncake is only available for faculty and staff, and the demand for students’ orders is already in short supply.
In the face of such a hot "hospital moon cake" market this year, Zhu Wentao has his own opinion: "People are not only looking forward to tasting a moon cake, but also a pursuit of health and wellness. The moon cakes produced by medical schools give people a reliable feeling. "Zhu Wentao said that everyone now generally pursues a healthy lifestyle. The mooncakes produced by hospitals are checked by the nutrition department, paying attention to the characteristics of fresh ingredients and no additives, and they have gradually gained a reputation. The high sales are also reasonable. middle.
Year after year, a small piece of moon cake was given endless creativity.
Crayfish, scallops, snail noodles...the crispy crust can be described as "all-encompassing", this is the innovation of taste; blind boxes, drawers, bamboo baskets...the exquisite appearance makes the ornamental value increase again and again, this is the innovation of packaging; private Customization, limited sale, exclusive supply...Insight into consumer preferences and grasping young people's curiosity mentality is an innovation in the sales model.
Ever-changing, more and more mooncakes are returning to their original intentions. Pure taste and healthy ingredients have become the criteria for diners to choose mooncakes.
When it comes to "playing" with moon cakes, "cake second generation" Li Yang has a say.
When he was a child, Li Yang was the "little tail" behind his father, learning to make and sell moon cakes from his father who started a moon cake factory.
Li Yang is now the distributor of Yunnan Jiahua Food Co., Ltd. Jiahua is a well-known brand in Yunnan's baking industry.
"When I first entered this industry, I often quarreled with my father to'play' moon cakes." Li Yang is a "post-90s". When he first entered the business in his early 20s 10 years ago, he felt that the moon cakes in his factory were "very rustic". ".
"First of all, I changed the packaging that was mainly red and yellow, and added dark wind and seven colors. Secondly, the two shapes of square and round are not used. You can make any shape with which mold is trendy. Again, it is popular nowadays. Whatever, add the taste."
However, when the moon cakes that I designed and made by myself were put on the market in batches, they couldn't sell.
Li Yang smiled embarrassedly: "You are young and ignorant. It seems to be broken for'playing' moon cakes." Li Yang said, when he really "understood" moon cakes, he was already 30 years old.
He spent a full 10 years making mooncakes and running the market with his father, and gradually understood that mooncakes carried in his father's mind the older generation's recognition of traditional culture and their recognition of cultural heritage.
Moon cakes are cultural symbols of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The round or square shape represents reunion and harvest.
Many people miss the "taste of childhood" because the taste of traditional mooncakes contains a strong festive atmosphere, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is the day when relatives and friends reunite. Mood.
Because of this, the value of moon cakes does not lie in the luxury and exquisite packaging, but in how we care, inherit and promote the Mid-Autumn Festival culture carried by moon cakes.
Mei Guihong is the person in charge of this year’s China (Sichuan) Mid-Autumn Festival Food Expo and Mooncake Cultural Festival. This exhibition has been held for 21 sessions. Talking about the changes in the mooncake sales market, he said: “10 years ago, the exhibition site was full of people. Five or six hundred companies have filled up nearly 20,000 square meters of exhibition halls. The company with the highest sales can reach 1 million yuan a day, which is unprecedented. Objectively speaking, with the rise of online shopping, the share of offline sales is The trend is narrowing year by year, but there are still many repeat customers visiting the exhibition. Some customers said, "As long as you do it, we will come."
Throughout the ages, traditional festivals have contained a wealth of food culture, and different cuisines are often given a special cultural value, emotional connotation and emotional needs.
Nowadays, the returning customers at the exhibition not only have a deep attachment to the Mid-Autumn Festival culture, but also pay more attention to the taste of moon cakes, because whether it is online or offline sales, as long as the quality is good and the brand is strong enough, the product can become the consumer's heart. Evergreens".
The "Mooncake Data Consumption Report 2020" released by iiMedia Data Center just confirms the views of Li Yang and Mei Guihong. In 2020, nearly 85% of consumers surveyed said they would continue to buy mooncakes. This data This is an increase of 11.2% compared to 2019.
The taste and texture, holiday-driven atmosphere, and green health have become the first factors that everyone considers when buying mooncakes.
Nowadays, mooncakes no longer need luxurious packaging to support the "face", and the cultural connotation has become the most confident "lizi" of mooncakes.
It is not difficult to see that whether it is “hospital moon cakes” that are “out of the circle” or traditional moon cakes, people’s pursuit of a healthy diet and emphasis on environmentally friendly packaging have allowed moon cakes to “return to the original” and return to their delicious essence and a good holiday. Of affection.
"Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crisp and sweetmeat in it." Mid-Autumn Festival is coming. Bring a box of moon cakes home to share with your family.
(Reporter Liu Chang of Economic Daily)