Demand for mooncakes have slumped this year, several charitable organizations said.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the first full moon of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, which is next Wednesday this year.
With few days remaining before the holiday, many organizations are struggling to meet sales targets, the groups said.
Children Are Us Foundation public affairs director Hu Yu-fang (胡玉芳) said that mooncake orders from corporations have declined by about 40 percent.
Orders from companies are important to the foundation, because they are a reliable and constant revenue source at a time when the overall mooncake market is stagnant, Hu said.
However, corporate purchases have shrunk by more than 50 percent this year, she said.
“While companies that have made orders in previous years are doing so again this year, those that used to buy 100 boxes are buying fewer than 50,” she added.
The sales decline has caused anxiety within the foundation, but the public relations campaign that it launched with help from celebrities and the media has lifted sales by attracting individual buyers, she said.
“We are very grateful for everyone’s attention and help,” Hu said.
Down Syndrome Foundation chief executive Lin Mei-chih (林美智) said that repeat individual buyers and the total number of orders have declined notably this year.
Although her foundation was able to receive a significant number of bulk corporate orders, Lin said the foundation’s workers had to repeatedly make sales pitches in person to reach that number.
“We have reached about 70 to 80 percent of our target. There is just a little more than a week left and we have our work cut out for us,” she said.
Lin urged the public to buy mooncakes from the foundation, adding that the bakers of the foundation who are mentally and physically challenged have worked hard to ensure the cakes’ quality.
“It is more meaningful to give your friends and family mooncakes that were sold for a good cause,” she added.
Eden Social Welfare Foundation deputy director of operations Chen Chih-hung (陳智弘) said that the foundation launched an aggressive publicity campaign, because it had anticipated trouble with demand.
After the campaign, the foundation made about 90 percent of its expected sales, Chen said, thanking the public.
The First Social Welfare Foundation said it is experiencing the same demand issues, but its publicity campaign has helped.
“We are grateful for the public’s support of our friends who are mentally or physically challenged,” the foundation said.
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