As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, moon cakes sales are starting to pick-up, yet the export of Cantonese moon cakes continue to face tough challenges, such as restrictions from foreign countries on moon cake imports and food additives, Guangzhou export officials said.

As of Sept .8, a total of 1,500 tons of moon cake valued at 11 million U.S. dollars had been exported to oversea countries. Although the export volume of moon cakes increased compared to last year, the growth rate has obliviously slowed.

Guangdong province is renowned for its Cantonese moon cake, which is known for its high quality and unique flavor, and that is why it is one of the biggest moon cake manufacturing bases and an important export center. However, for years, moon cake export has been subject to the "green dam" set up by many countries to limit the entry of Chinese moon cakes into their markets.

In recent years, mailed moon cakes have been prohibited in some countries, such as France, Germany, Thailand and Sweden. This year, this list was expanded to 33 countries. In addition, more than 30 countries have strict regulations regarding the importing of moon cakes or place rigid limitations on food additives. Some of the small and mid-sized moon cake manufacturers are facing the tough task of finding ways to export their products because they cannot meet the rigid requirements imposed by some foreign countries.

Affected by the significant increase in raw material costs, wages increases and other factors, moon cake production costs have risen sharply, drastically shrinking the profit margins of export enterprises.

In order to improve the moon cake imports, some experts suggested that the industry should explore new development methods of moon cake production in line with modern Western food nutrition standards. At the same time, they call for the establishment of industrial standards for the sector.

Source:People's Daily Online