Mooncakes will cost 10% more in Shanghai

The price of mooncakes will rise by more than 10 percent ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on September 25 this year, according to the Shanghai Food Association Bakery Commission.

"This year's price rise is the biggest in the past decade, caused by a growth in the cost of all the raw materials used to make mooncakes," Gao Kemin, director of the commission, said yesterday.

Gao said the prices of raw materials increased because of a shortage in supply. He said wholesale hazelnut prices are over 20 percent higher than a year ago because of a 30 percent drop in output this year.

Meanwhile, the prices of cooking oil and sugar have also risen by 20 to 30 percent since last year.

Although the Mid-Autumn Festival is still over two months away, some famous mooncake manufacturers have already put the dessert onto their shelves.

A shop assistant at Xinghualou Food Co, which supplies half of Shanghai's mooncakes, said rising prices of pork and flour have caused the cost of a single mooncake to increase by more than 10 percent compared to the same period last year, hitting five to 12 yuan for each. But she said prices of gift-wrapped mooncakes have risen just a little. A tin box of mooncakes costs 72 yuan, a four-yuan rise from last year.

Gao said the commission had agreed with main producers to control the cost of packaged mooncakes by reducing the cost of packaging.