Time honored brands and e-commerce platforms have all launched new products, and the "Mooncake Battle" in Shanghai has started half a month ahead of schedule with Dousha | Mooncake | Platform

At present, it is the peak season for tourism, and the popularity of popular scenic spots in Shanghai is steadily increasing. The upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival will add more heat to urban consumption.

Compared to previous years, this year's mooncake season has started more than half a month ahead of schedule, and major time-honored brands and e-commerce platforms have welcomed a large number of consumers who try new things at different times. Under the innovative strategy of "evidence-based", businesses are exploring new expressions of seasonal products and playing a new role in national style and China-Chic.

New flavors are continuously launched

At 9:30 a.m., as soon as the First Food Store in Shanghai, located in the Nanjing Road Walkway, opened, many aunts, uncles and uncles came in carrying bags. They are selecting mooncakes that suit their preferences from various stalls, preparing to take them home and taste the fresh ones.

The first food store in Shanghai officially launched the Mid Autumn Festival mooncake season yesterday. "Compared to previous years, this year's mooncake season has advanced by more than half a month, and major merchants on Nanjing Road have been eagerly preparing to showcase their latest seasonal products." Ye Qiang, the manager of the Nandong store, said that the passenger flow in the Nanjing Road business district has significantly recovered this year, and the Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holidays are connected. "With the combination of two festivals and the increasing emphasis on traditional festivals by the public, we have extended the mooncake launch season, promoted commerce through culture, and increased the popularity of the consumer market."

A series of well-known brands such as First Food, Guanshengyuan, Xinghualou, Shaowansheng, and Longhua Suzhai have recently released new products for the autumn of 2023. In terms of taste alone, consumers have many more choices.

In addition to traditional fresh meat mooncakes, salted egg yolk mooncakes, beef mooncakes, etc., First Food has launched three new flavors of freshly baked mooncakes this year: fresh coconut latte, willow branch sweet dew, and pine nut bean paste. They are freshly baked and sold on the same day to ensure freshness and flavor to the greatest extent possible.

After the good response of the Meigan cai dumplings harvest market, Shao Wansheng used this raw material on the moon cakes. "We use Essen frozen fresh pig hind leg meat to provide enough fresh gravy, and use a large number of vegetables, fruits, chicken to boil thick soup, and add special Meigan cai to fully integrate the flavor." Shen Chao, manager of Shao Wansheng's e-commerce department, introduced that this traditional process, combined with modern embryo freezing technology, enables consumers to bake and eat at home, which is instant and convenient, in addition to shopping in stores.

As an intangible cultural heritage, Longhua Pure Mooncake has launched three new flavors this year: walnut and red dates, rose kernels, and pine nuts and hawthorn. "We can taste both the crispy texture of the nuts and the grainy texture of the flesh. Considering the dietary characteristics of the" three highs "population, our mooncakes are completely based on the natural sweetness of the food and do not add any extra sugar," Ma Xiaoyan, director of the factory delivery center of Longhua Suzhai Food Co., Ltd., told reporters.

Longhua Suzhai insists on "not eating from time to time". As a seasonal product, moon cakes are sold from early August to Mid-Autumn Festival. "In addition to the purchase in Longhua Temple, we have also opened various online channels, such as Tiktok, Meituan, Hunglema, Taobao, WeChat Mall, etc., to facilitate citizens to taste seasonal delicacies." The combination of online and offline has also further helped enterprises to sell, and in recent years, the annual sales growth rate of Longhua Jingsu Moon Cake has remained above 20%.

From "cross-border" to "unbounded"

At the booth of Guanshengyuan Big White Rabbit, the familiar iron box of the citizens has been enlarged in a circle, which is not filled with milk candy, but with mooncakes.

This is the most diverse IP camp of the Great White Rabbit, and also its debut of cross-border mooncakes. There are 6 different flavors of Flowing Heart Mooncakes in the gift box packaging, including Thick Milk, Osmanthus, Matcha, Milk Yellow, Chocolate, Coffee, etc.

To impress consumers, one is the taste, and the other is the design. On the basis of micro innovation in taste, major businesses in Shanghai are also exploring their cultural values and exploring the brand's transition from "cross-border" to "boundless" through creative expression.

The internet celebrity Meixin in the mooncake industry has launched two new products this year. From the perspective of internal filling, it belongs to traditional flavors, namely fragrant and smooth milk yolk and egg yolk lotus seed paste. But in terms of appearance, it is bold and innovative. The former takes a retro cassette radio as its design, with a yellow main color tone and a flashing light effect, which is full of playfulness. The latter collaborates with Disney, which coincides with its 100th anniversary, inspired by retro vinyl records, and the can body design includes multiple classic cartoon characters.

Cross border collaboration, and many time-honored brands are also exploring. Qiao Jiazha has entered the gaming industry this year and collaborated with Giant Network to bring a limited edition Mid Autumn Festival gift box called "Full Moon Night" to card masters. There are 6 flavors in the gift box, from purple potato and sweet potato, matcha Longjing, cheese Red bean soup, to cherry cranberry, milky yellow and white lotus paste, and chocolate coffee. The gift box contains physical cards for the full moon night, which can be redeemed for Mid Autumn Festival honors and achievements in the game. The packaging is made of PVC environmentally friendly material, which is conducive to recycling and secondary utilization, and can also be used for storage and storage.

The first food seems to be a bit off guard. The brand it collaborates with is not making mooncakes, but pastries. "In fact, the boundary between mooncakes and pastries has become somewhat blurred. In the mooncake season, buying a beautifully packaged pastry gift box has also become a choice for many consumers." Based on offline sales data and research results, the Ye Qiang team and Tang Bingjia jointly launched two pastry products, Red Bean Egg Yolk Pastry and Joyful Pastry Gift Box, achieving a strong alliance of old brands.

The first camp of Cantonese mooncakes, Xinghualou, has now created multiple series of product matrices, and the joint series is one of them. For example, it collaborates with the Dunhuang Museum, which is in line with its own cultural image, and has successively launched gift boxes such as Full Moon Dunhuang, Apricot Moon Flying, and Flying Moon Accompanying Moon, showcasing the elegant traditional Chinese culture and inheriting the spirit of craftsmanship.

It also combines consumer segmentation needs and collaborates with Pinduoduo to launch customized mini packaging products. Among them, the classic flavors of rose bean paste and cream coconut are the most popular among consumers. "This year's sales have shown a good trend compared to the same period last year, and various brand products are still actively reporting and launching. According to previous years' trends, the peak sales of mooncakes on online platforms are expected to arrive 7 days before the Mid Autumn Festival," said the relevant person in charge of Pinduoduo.

Make innovation "evidence-based"

This is not the first time that First Food has been co branded. Its collaborative products are constantly changing every year, echoing the brand's consistent philosophy of constant renewal.

For time-honored brands, there are always some timeless flagship products, which are the cornerstone of the brand. "While establishing a solid foundation, we also demand innovation and change. This does not mean walking aimlessly, but based on consumer taste and food safety, using our own cultural IP to keep up with the times, which is the biggest trend that old brands need to catch up with." Ye Qiang said.

Fresh e-commerce platforms such as Dingdong Maicai, Meituan Maicai, and Hema, which focus on the young consumer market, are also exploring delicious paths and forming differentiated competitive advantages. For example, fresh meat mooncakes are deeply loved by local consumers in Shanghai, but the pain point is that fresh meat mooncakes are only delicious when just baked, and it is difficult for consumers to restore the taste after taking them home.

So this year, Dingdong Maicai collaborated with brands such as Xiqu Laoda Fang and Shen Dacheng to inherit the advantages of traditional brands in terms of taste. After improvement, they launched an "exclusive customized version", mainly upgrading the packaging. The outer box can be directly microwave heated, and the main feature is that it can also restore the freshly baked flavor at home. Consumer review: "Heat according to the instructions for one minute, just right."

Self developed mooncakes are also a major trend on e-commerce platforms this year. The self owned brand of Meituan Buying Food, like Chef Xiang, launched more than 30 self-developed products this year. "There are more than 10 traditional flavors alone, and there are also combinations of different sizes, quantities and new varieties." Meng Fei, the head of the chef's moon cake, said that this year, Meituan Buying Food split the gift box of moon cakes and sold them individually, which solved the problem of consumers who could not finish eating moon cakes after they bought them, and also complied with the Clean Your Plate Campaign advocated at the moment.

Based on platform sales big data, innovation in fresh e-commerce is also more evidence-based. Mengfei revealed that Meituan Maicai is about to launch a taro mashed sweet potato salted egg yolk pancake. One pancake is bigger than the face, enough for the whole family to share.

"Desserts with flavors such as taro paste, sweet potato, and salted egg yolk have sold well on the platform and are loved by young people," said Mengfei. Therefore, the R&D team has also tried to integrate these flavors into mooncakes, complementing classic flavors and opening up the market.

"We better understand the preferences of online users and develop new products that are closely related to current consumer trends. Such innovation is more valuable, and the probability of product success is higher than that of products that are only for eye-catching purposes." Mengfei said that Chef Xiang has also developed shaped mooncakes, rice mooncakes, and small portion mooncakes to explore market potential and meet the needs of different consumers.

According to data from Meituan Maicai, since August, the sales of mooncakes on the platform have increased by 47% compared to the same period last year. Durian flesh ice skin mooncakes, Cantonese egg yolk lotus paste mooncakes, Cantonese five kernel mooncakes, Cantonese bean paste mooncakes, and milk yolk flow heart mooncakes are all hot selling products.