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Sun setting on Shanxi’s mooncake manufacturers
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THE remote county of Shenchi in north China’s coal-rich Shanxi Province has been producing mooncakes for the past 500 years. Once a thriving industry, it looks destined to suffer the same fate as the region’s fading coal industry.
Qingqiuyuan Food Group, the largest mooncake producer in Shenchi, said that demand for the treats — usually given as gifts during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls tomorrow — have dropped markedly in recent years.
Qingqiuyuan once had two factories producing mooncakes on an industrial scale. Now, one is shut, and the other operates only occasionally.
Ren Peng, who works at Qingqiuyuan, said the company expects to sell about 800,000 mooncakes this year, a fraction of the sales seen in previous years.
Many other producers in Shenchi are facing the same prospect. In years gone by, the county saw more than 100 million mooncakes produced annually, generating more than 200 million yuan (US$31.4 million) in revenue.
“We expect to sell about 20 million mooncakes this year,” said Gao Jie, an official with the county food association.
The once-thriving coal mining companies in Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia were major buyers, Gao said.
“Most mining firms are either partly or completely shut down due to the economic recession and this has affected our sales,” he said.
The number of mooncake producers in the county has also dropped sharply from 300 to 100 as many have been forced to shut down or merge with larger rivals, Gao said.
A change in attitude toward extravagance, following the launch of a government-led anti-graft drive in late 2012, has meant that mooncake producers have had to change their strategy.
Once a gift of choice for government employees or officials, expensive mooncake packages no longer hold the same appeal.
“Many firms have now begun to make cheaper mooncakes,” Gao said.
Customers of Changxiangyuan, however, another Shenchi-based producer, drive hundreds of kilometers just to buy its affordable mooncakes.
“I bought Changxiangyuan mooncakes last year and they were so delicious that my friends and I came back this year,” said Duan, a customer from the provincial capital of Taiyuan.
“We just couldn’t keep up with demand,” said Han Fei, a manager with the company.
“Last year we sold up to 50,000 mooncakes a day, and we expect sales to be even better this year.”
Han said the company mainly makes low-price mooncakes aimed at the general public, so its sales have not been badly affected.
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