Price differential of moon cakes before and after Mid-Autumn Festival Vannie Fan Chaahat Gambhir Eleanor Lee Winsome Wong

Slide of Contents  Introduction  Project Question and Planning  Interview Results and Analysis  Conclusion of analysis  Distribution of work  Group member’s reflections  Acknowledgements

Introduction Mooncakes are Chinese pastries traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the festival for lunar worship and moon watching. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a popular harvest festival celebrated by Chinese people, dating back over 3,000 years to China's Shang Dynasty.

Introduction (cont’d) Types of mooncakes - Snowy moon cakes - Ice cream moon cakes - Traditional moon cakes

Introduction (cont’d) Economics is a strict social science that explains and predicts human behaviour. It studies how people satisfy their unlimited wants with limited resources. Economics is divided into microeconomics and macroeconomics.

Project Question and Planning Project Question: Price differential of Moon cakes before and after Mid-Autumn Festival

Project Question and Planning (cont’d) DateTaskWhat to achieve 07/09/ /09/2009 Collect information Collecting information:  The price of mooncakes  Sales of different kinds of moon cakes from various bakeries.

Project Question and Planning (cont’d) DateTaskWhat to achieve 26/09/2009Interviewing and Field Work Interview:  Shop manager, workers and customers  Their views about moon cakes and their prices Note: Observe the shop status and track down the number of boxes of moon cakes sold in a particular time period.

Project Question and Planning (cont’d) DateTaskWhat to achieve 26/09/09AnalysisA full analysis of information received 26/09/2009 – 14/10/2009 Report Writing  Introduction  Body  Conclusion  Appendix  Acknowledgements  Script writing  Powerpoint

Survey of 62 people Interview Results

Average: 4 moon cakes Interview Results (cont’d)

Interview Results (cont’d) Prices before Mid-Autumn Festival Name of the moon cakesOriginal price Price after discount Maxims double-yolk lotus seed paste moon cake$253$168 Maxims white lotus seed paste double yolk moon cake$263$178 Prices after Mid-Autumn Festival Name of the moon cakesPrice Maxims double-yolk lotus seed paste moon cake$120 Maxims white lotus seed paste double yolk moon cake$130

Conclusion of project and interview Name of the moon cakesbeforeafter Maxims double-yolk lotus seed paste moon cake$168$120 Maxims white lotus seed paste double yolk moon cake$178$130 We can see from the above interview results and analysis that many people are willing to fork out as much as $300 during the Mid-Autumn Festival and that prices differ greatly before and after Mid-Autumn Festival. We can also see that demand is great before the festival, hence the bakeries and cake shops raise the prices of the moon cakes before the festival to produce as much as profit as possible.

Conclusion of project and interview (cont’d) Before Mid – Autumn Festival Since prices are quite high, it proves the demand is high. BrandPrice Haagen – Dazs$80 - $700 Wing Wah Cake Shop$27-$1018 Maxim’s Cake Shop$88 - $455 Arome Bakery$40 - $240 Home of Swallows$175 - $4148 Kee Wah Bakery$75-$690

Conclusion of project and interview (cont’d) After the Mid - Autumn Festival Demand is significantly low. Many bakeries and shops do not sell mooncakes. Bakeries which still sell mooncakes have reduced their prices. They are: BrandPrice Wing Wah Cake Shop$55 - $229 Maxim’s Cake Shop$120 - $263 Arome Bakery$30 Tai Pan$28 - $266

Conclusion of project and interview (cont’d)  The demand and prices of mooncakes changes significantly after Mid-Autumn Festival.  Some companies remove their stock at the end of Mid-Autumn Festival  Some have greatly reduced their prices ranging from 42% to 88%.

Distribution of work Vannie Fan: Interview Script Making of questionnaire Chaahat Gambhir: Interview Written Report Powerpoint Eleanor Lee: Interview Powerpoint Making of questionnaire Winsome Wong: Interview Analysis of received data Making of questionnaire

Group members’ reflections We had a great time working on this mini-project. It was wonderful working on this as it built up our self-confidence thus enhancing our potential. There was so much to do and we had to hurry up to meet the deadline so we took it as a challenge and faced it courageously. We also faced pressure as we were doing the written report and powerpoint in a hurry. 

Group members’ reflections (cont’d) It was fun working with each other where our frequencies matched and therefore it became a lot easier to accomplish the task. On the whole, we are very happy with the co-operation which was made between us. We enjoyed working on this project and we look forward to doing such works in the future with more enthusiasm and zeal.

Acknowlegdements We are grateful to the following people for their constant help throughout the preparation and completion of this mini- project. Without their help, we might not have been able to complete this project and present it as we have. They are: Mrs. E. Kwong All the staff of Maxim’s All staff of other bakeries and cake shops All interviwees All group members We would also like to acknowledge Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, for giving us all the information we need through its website,