The battle of Mid-Autumn mooncakes has begun, with convenience stores offering pre-orders for 50 gift box varieties

By Chi Bing-hui, compiled and reported

The Mid-Autumn Festival is perfect for barbecues and mooncake indulgence, and many people have already started picking out gifts that are ideal for both giving and personal enjoyment. This year, convenience store operators have launched 50 products under the dual themes of “Summer Delights” and “Timeless Taste.” These include over ten frozen desserts guided by Master Wu Pao-chun, century-old shop mooncakes from across the country, city café mooncakes, and more. Pre-orders for this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival are expected to grow by another 10% compared to last year.

7-ELEVEN reports that in recent years, low-temperature frozen mooncakes have continued to grow in popularity, now accounting for nearly 30% of total sales. With this year’s temperatures hitting record highs, the first wave of mooncake pre-orders already showed a 15% growth rate. Products such as German pudding guided by Master Wu Pao-chun, Yvette Sicilian-style Italian ice cream, Amarula ice cream, traditional ice bricks, and Cold Stone’s colorful floral ice cream mooncakes have all made it onto the bestseller list. Meanwhile, the “Timeless Taste” selection features authentic traditional flavors, including premium offerings from Li Chi, Lin Jinsheng Hsiang, I-Fu Tang, Tai Yang Tang, Golden Dragon Color, Lee Ting Hsiang, Yan Xin Fa, and Bao Zhen Hsiang.

In terms of regional flavor mooncakes, options include Suzhou-style mooncakes from Red Bean Restaurant, Beijing-style eight-piece packs from Fuli Yikuai Su, Taiwanese-style pastries from Yilan Du Xiao Yue, large Taiwanese-style cakes from Yiba’er White Sesame Crisp Cakes, Ulu Milk Tofu Mooncakes from Imperial Consort Benyue, Cantonese-style mooncakes from Hong Kong Qili, and more. For renowned shops and specialty items, there’s a custom-made handmade gift box crafted by Japan’s top patissier Dōgyu Aoki, city café coffee mooncakes and handmade cookie gift boxes, as well as a unique special collaboration with Pili— the Pili Divine Moon Ink Dance Mooncake Gift Box.

Mid-Autumn pre-orders are now open until September 2nd, with prices ranging from 220 to 995 NT dollars. Buy any two items and get a 5% discount. “Summer Delights” can be picked up three days after ordering at the same store, or seven days later at other locations. Other mooncakes can be picked up six days after pre-order starting August 22nd, with additional discounts for orders of five or more boxes, with the lowest discount reaching 25%.

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