Beijing's mooncake producers are hoping to revive the spirit of
China's traditional Mid-Autumn Festival by packaging their products
in simple, environment-friendly, recycled paper.
More than 40 stores have joined a municipal government campaign
to sell mooncakes in simple packaging from Saturday, ahead of the
festival that falls on Sept. 25 this year.
The mooncakes would be wrapped in recycled paper and packaged in
paper containers, said Liu Jian, a marketing official with Beijing
municipal bureau of commerce.
Leading producers, like Holiland, Guixiangcun and Weiduomei, are
involved in the campaign.
"Customers can still buy mooncakes wrapped in expensive packages
as gifts. We don't expect they'll want to change that right away.
The recycled paper was introduced to promote the notion of
environmental protection among consumers," Liu said. However he
could not specify the proportion of mooncakes to be wrapped in
recycled paper.
Holiland spokesman Li Xiaojun said, "At the request of
government, we will provide an initial 5,000 boxes of mooncakes
wrapped in recycled paper on Saturday, together with two other
producers. But the total number this year will depend on the market
response."
The simply-packaged moon cakes will be sold for 90 to 180 yuan
(US$12 to 24) per box, depending on the quantity and quality, an
average 10 percent lower than normal Beijing prices.
"As China's prices have soared recently, the costs of raw
materials to produce mooncakes has increased by 10 to 12 percent,"
said Liu. Keeping the prices low would help stabilize commodity
prices during the festival.
China's consumer price index, a key inflation indicator, rose by
3.5 percent in the first seven months, hitting 5.6 percent in
July.
The rise has been mainly driven by food price hikes, which
soared by 8.6 percent from January to July and contributed to 80
percent of the overall inflation, according to earlier report.
Liu hoped the packaging drive would help spread the concepts of
frugality, rationality and health. "Luxurious packages not only
distort the meaning of mooncakes, but are unnecessarily
wasteful."
Mid-Autumn Festival, traditionally a time of family reunions,
was designated an official festival in the Tang Dynasty (618 -
907). On the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar,
family members returned home and together ate mooncakes and watched
the full moon.
In the past decade, mooncakes -- traditionally stuffed with
sweet bean paste, egg yolks and nuts -- have been packaged in
extremely expensive and elaborate boxes made of wood, silk or even
gold.
In the last two years, the authorities have begun to discourage
extravagance and waste in the sales of mooncakes.
(Xinhua News Agency September 1, 2007)
