This year, the mid-autumn festival falls on September 21st and the holiday season with moon cakes is coming in handy.
However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Singaporeans will no longer be able to attend large milk cake fairs in malls to buy milk cakes from retailers.
Despite this, brands have successfully pivoted on selling moon cakes through their online stores, offering customers a plethora of options to choose from.
In addition, there are also more brands that are stepping up to make their foray into the moon cake industry to have a slice of cake. This year, we curated five brands that have left their mark on the milk cake scene:
Truffle Aroma
In 2018, three brothers (Kenny Chan, 35, Johnathan Chan, 32, and Kayson Chan, 29) saw the opportunity to bring to Singapore sophisticated gourmet food inspired by Italian culture.
Then they started experimenting with bold flavors and incorporating them into chips to add a modern twist to the conventional snack. They particularly use truffles, which are a type of mushroom much coveted in Italian cuisine, which are widely known as “The Mozart of Mushrooms.”
Since then, the aromatic truffle has become famous in the world of snacks. In early April, her tokens were even featured in the Korean drama “Sell Your Haunted House,” which caused her popularity to skyrocket in Korea as well.
In addition to its best-selling truffle chips, Aroma Truffle has also delved into the moon cake industry. They created and launched the first truffle cakes in August 2019.
Aroma truffle moon cakes are enhanced with a luxurious blend of delicious local flavors, such as Mao Shan Wang Durians and Italian winter black truffles.
Each moon cake is wrapped in a mochi-like shell and dusted with 24-carat gold. If you just can’t get rich enough truffle flavors, Aroma Truffle also sells moon cakes together in a package with their truffle chips.
Enjoy the truffle certainty this mid-autumn festival with the Aroma truffle moon cakes:
Golden Moments
Golden Moments was founded in 2017 by Josiah Jeremy, 32. The brand launched with its first product: Signature 100% Mao Shan Wang Snow Skin Mooncake.
“The response was overwhelming and we got a six-digit digit with our product sold out in a month,” dit Josies.
This is still their best-selling product so far and it’s no surprise, considering that Golden Moments is a pioneering player that sells durian cakes in Singapore and does it well.
Another reason for the brand’s success is its constant focus on innovation. Last year it introduced new flavors of moon cake like Lychee Martini, D24 Durian and Docello Hazelnut.
This year, the brand has once again infused local flavors into its line of cakes. He Classic Pandan Snake with Mooncake it’s one of the all-time favorites: wrapped under lightly chewy snow skin there’s fragrant lotus-infused lotus paste that wraps around a white chocolate truffle to give it a sweet drink.
On the other hand, The Golden Lava Custard is the traditional Golden Moment baked skin moon cake. The layers finish perfectly with a well-cooked crust, creamy custard and a hint of melted lava.
A gastronomic parade of flavors awaits you and your loved ones this mid-autumn. Get them now at VP Label:
NOT MORE
ONLYKAI was founded by banking and finance graduate Matthew Shia. The 28-year-old took over the oven as a hobby in 2014 and has since expanded his brand to a long-term business.
It started with just five flavors on the menu in 2014, which has grown to include more than 35 items. Matthew reasoned that he is always looking for inspiration to create new flavors to attract customers.
I would formulate flavors in my head throughout the day, imagining how certain fruits can be put together or how I can give a modern twist to traditional flavors.
Matthew Shia, founder of ONLYKAI
Matthew told Vulcan Post that he has always thought of himself as a traditional person, and his growing interest in traditional festivals such as the Chinese New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival drove him to find a way to keep the spark of these festivities alive. He thought there was no better way to do this than through his bakery products.
ONLYKAI fuses modern flavors into its snow skin cakes. For example, Thai milk tea has been a favorite among Singaporeans, so the ONLYKAI team has since created a Thai milk tea-flavored milk cake.
Their efforts paid off and every year, the brand receives inquiries about milk cakes even before launching its cake menu. This year, the ONLYKAI team has created one exclusive flavor of moon cake for Vulcan Post.
“Vulcan Post is a platform that provides people with new knowledge and perspectives on the business and technology landscape. With that as a motivating factor, I decided to create a really refreshing taste, ”said Matthew.
Yuzu’s Earl Gray mooncake is a playful touch to traditional flavors, providing a combination of tea and citrus in a single bite.
Durian Law
Even as a child, Michael Law, 28, always had a passion for business. He has always wanted to build something of his own to leave a legacy behind.
However, after graduating in economics and finance from SIM-RMIT, he started working in a bank. He decided to leave his banking job “at the worst possible time,” during the heyday of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.
I stayed home for about a month, reflecting on what my next steps should be. I started selling during my network. Honestly, it all started with me picking up the phone and texting everyone I knew.
Michael Law, founder of Durian Law
Durian Law was founded in March 2020, when Michael started selling durians via WhatsApp. Michael had wanted to create a “true blue durian brand” in Singapore, selling only durian-related products.
His strong inclination to become a business owner, along with his knowledge of the fruit business and the unique fact that most Singaporeans consider durian to be valuable, encouraged him to start in the business of selling durians.
Despite the prosperity of the brand, he realized that the business would not be maintained just by selling the fruit itself. Therefore, he saw the need to diversify into other products while pursuing his mission to provide quality durians, albeit in various ways for his customers.
His brand is also inspired by his family: Michael’s father had to live his family in Hong Kong, having worked in Singapore most of his life, which led to Durian Law being divide into moon cakes.
According to Michael, the gift of moon cakes is an important part of Hong Kong culture and the small nuance of selling moon cakes brings him closer to his heritage and family.
Durian Law moon cakes are hand-picked during the peak times of the season and because the team is very selective with their processes, only the best batch of durians ends up in their pastry shop.
Manually peel the durians and process them before filling the moon cakes, without adding ingredients to the fillings.
We tried some gasoline recipes before we found a successful recipe and keep improving it all the time as we believe our flavors can only improve.
We are still in full R&D to innovate and drive a wider range of durian products, so that we can continue to offer quality durian to our customers throughout the year.
Michael Law, founder of Durian Law
Last year, Durian Law managed to fully sell all of its moon cakes and managed to earn about $ 200,000 in total sales last year from the sale of durians, durian-based pastas and moon cakes.
Get your hands on Durian Law lime pies this year here:
Guys
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, new player Singapore boys appeared on the bak kwa scene in hopes of disrupting the centennial industry.
Fyre, released last year, was created by a 29-year-old Singaporean who wants to be simply called an NGO. The brand decided to incorporate the Mala Xiang Guo trend into its uneven one and launched with two flavors: Classic Original 1945 Lychee and Apple Wood Bak Kwa and Mala.
According to Ong, Fyre achieved six-figure sales during the first two weeks of release. Now, the brand has decided to venture into the cake scene as well.
This mid-fall festival, Fyre unveiled one luxury collection of handmade, scaly and teochew snow-skinned, Sakura and litchi-themed moon cakes.
Fyre Singapore is based on the value of “redefining traditions” and the brand believes that traditions can only be preserved through modernity, innovation and perseverance.
Its goal is to provide each customer with a new experience, which is why it has redefined the traditional Teochew milk cake. Teochew milk cakes originated in the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong, and are known for their thousand-layer skin that spreads in every bite.
Guys Traditional Teochew-style moon cakes they come in two flavors: the traditional taro custard filling and a refreshing Sakura Cherry Blossom lychee lotus filling.
Their traditionally baked and snow-skinned moon cakes have also received rave reviews from highly acclaimed food bloggers. Try them here:
Let yourself be spoiled for choice by this mid-fall festival
From snow skin to traditional Teochew milk cakes, this mid-fall festival offers many options at VP Label.
Vice President Label brings together all the best local products for Vulcan Post shoppers and readers to discover in one place.
To sweeten the deal, VP Label has done just that was associated with purchase now, pay later Pace solution, to offer buyers a $ 20 discount for every $ 80 spent whenever they shop with Pace.
Enjoy discounts of up to S $ 300 when paying with Pace using the following coupon codes:
- PACEVP20: $ 20 discount with a minimum spending of $ 80
- PACEVP40: $ 40 discount with a minimum spending of $ 160
- VPLABEL15: 15% discount with a minimum expenditure of S $ 500, with a maximum limit of S $ 100
- VPLABEL20: 20% discount with a minimum expenditure of S $ 1000, limited to S $ 300
Down to Vice President Label to buy these indulgent moon cakes now.
Featured Image Credit: Durian Law / Fyre Singapore / Golden Moments / Aroma Truffle / ONLYKAI
