Winter melon + sweetener = Hami melon moon cake? Experts uncover the mystery of mooncake price

In China, there is seldom a kind of food like moon cake, which is always periodically in dispute every year: is moon cake a food or a gift? Moon cake or luxury combination? Why does the moon cake, which symbolizes family affection, paint a strong color of interest Behind the controversy, price is the key Wang Guojun, senior engineer of Shanghai modern food studio who has studied the moon cake industry for decades, detailed the mystery of moon cake price to reporters "Moving bricks": from 18 yuan to 78 yuan, those who earn a lot of money are those who are commissioned to process and then sell the hotel mooncakes Most of them can't do without flour, oil and stuffing But when they are put on the counter, the price is from tens to hundreds of yuan to thousands of yuan, which makes people confused Wang Guojun said that the real price of mooncakes is the ex factory price After coming out from the manufacturer, the price began to rise "The net profit of mooncake manufacturers is about 5%; for some mooncakes with brands and consumer recognition, the ex factory price is increased by 10% and the net profit is about 20%, which is very good." According to Wang Guojun, the profits of mooncake manufacturers are not high The hotels that make a lot of money are those that are commissioned to process and then sold Wang Guojun used the word "carrying bricks" to describe the identity change of mooncakes after they came out of the manufacturer: the same mooncakes were moved to another place, but they were "broad" For example, he took an experience that he participated in the spot check: a box of 250g mooncakes, the factory price is 18 yuan, the manufacturer can earn about one yuan, and the net profit is 5% When we arrived at the hotel, the retail price reached 78 yuan After deducting the cost of publicity, packaging and sales, the hotel could make a net profit of 35 yuan Compared with the purchase price of 18 yuan, the net profit was nearly 200%! "We can understand why hotels and hotels are keen on selling moon cakes in the Mid Autumn Festival." According to Wang Guojun's statistics, excluding the types of front stores and back factories, there are more than 220 mooncake processing enterprises in Shanghai that can carry out factory production This year, there are only about 30 enterprises with a certain scale Most of them make mooncakes on the eve of the Mid Autumn Festival and usually make pastries "Some wine shops and hotels selling mooncakes in the Mid Autumn Festival in Shanghai produce mooncakes by themselves, but most of them are commissioned processing Small and medium-sized enterprises do not have a brand To survive, they can only process for the hotel and earn a little money " After many years of investigation, Wang Guojun thought that hotels and guesthouses do mooncake business with little risk, and there is something wrong with the mooncake processed by entrustment Finally, the responsibility should be investigated to the mooncake processing enterprises The latter is relatively difficult to survive at present "Three months after the Mid Autumn Festival, hotels and guest houses will settle accounts with them, and only when the money is received can they rest assured." In order to reduce the cost of small fillings, we should not add what we should add, and should not try to add "in order to reduce the cost, some manufacturers should not add what we should add, and should not try to add what we should not For example, Wuren moon cake is walnut kernel, melon kernel, almond, olive kernel, sesame, etc if the price of fruit is expensive, it will be put less, sugar is cheap, put more, and some even put saccharin and cyclamate, resulting in sweetness of more than 52% If it's too sweet, starch will be added, down to about 40% But since then, mooncakes have become hard and tough, like Kraft sugar, and sticky to teeth, which are not liked by everyone " Wang Guojun said Due to the low profit, some mooncake manufacturers have made great efforts to reduce the production cost, especially the filling There is no problem with the quality, but the price is obviously a little "false fire" Wang Guojun takes the moon cake filled with bean paste as an example: the price of good quality bean paste is about the same as lotus paste, 18 yuan per kilogram; the price of poor quality is only 6 yuan per kilogram But even so, some of the bean paste in the moon cake is still mixed with flour, put the caramel color (an edible pigment) into the color of bean paste In the early 1990s, a Taiwanese company launched "pineapple moon cake", which became popular, so many moon cake manufacturers began to make fruit moon cakes However, fruit filling is expensive In order to reduce the cost, winter melon has become a substitute For example, some "Hami melon moon cakes" are actually made with winter melon and sweetener "The difference between them is big!" "Product logo is the main way for consumers to understand food information If the product logo is not standardized, it can't reflect all the real information of the product truthfully, which violates consumers' right to know For example, "Cantonese double yellow pure lotus moon cake" is different from "Cantonese double yellow lotus moon cake" The former is 100% lotus, while the latter is only 60% lotus The label of many mooncake boxes is not clear Some mooncake boxes look very elegant, but what is inside is not clearly written There is a problem with the packaging, which belongs to "punching the stuffy bag." Wang Guojun said that according to the regulations, the label should clearly indicate whether it is produced by itself or commissioned processing, as well as the net content, ingredient list, processing type, production standard, production unit, shelf life, production date, etc The more expensive the moon cake, the more delicious it is? Some so-called "bird's nest" of "bird's nest moon cake" are actually white fungus Over the years, the high price has led to the "taste change" of moon cake The "reason" for the high price is not only luxury packaging and luxury matching, but also because the stuffing of some high price moon cakes contains abalone and shark's fin, which are regarded as luxury consumer goods In Wang Guojun's eyes, "abalone moon cake", "shark fin moon cake" and "bird's nest moon cake" are just concepts, not delicious Because of his working relationship, Wang Guojun has tasted one or two hundred mooncakes every year Of course, he has also tasted "abalone mooncakes" He also found that some so-called "bird's nest mooncakes" are actually white fungus What price is the best moon cake to eat? Is it more expensive and more delicious? Wang Guojun recommended a box of 4, 100 yuan moon cakes, "of course, if a good brand."     He said that since the state issued the compulsory standards for mooncakes last year, under the strong supervision of quality inspection, industry and Commerce and other departments, this year's "luxury mooncakes" and "sky high mooncakes" still exist, but they are less than in previous years, but on the whole, this year's mooncakes are more expensive than last year, because the price of raw materials has increased, and the retail price of mooncakes has also increased by nearly 15% compared with 2006 The formula has been adjusted The ratio of moon cake filling to crust was 1:1, but now it's 1.5:1 Of course, the price will go up " To Wang Guojun's delight, there are more moon cakes packed in iron boxes on the market "Many people think that the cost of iron boxes is higher than that of paper boxes, but it's not so The cost of iron boxes is 5 to 6 yuan, and the cost of paper boxes is 10 yuan or more The moon cake packed in an iron box is the most affordable, because it has strong support and can be placed compactly In fact, the common people are most welcome "