Custom Mooncakes for Every Occasion: Personalization and corporate gifts can refer to a wide range of items that are purchased with the purpose of being presented to other people, but it most commonly applies to the kind of gifts that are bought in large quantities and given out during special occasions such as the holiday season, or for business events such as conferences and trade fairs.
Mooncakes are one of the most representing Chinese pastry, which comes to symbolize the Mid-Autumn Festival. These complex and moist buns are often stuffed with sweet or spice items such as lotus seed paste, red bean paste, roasted nuts, salted egg yolks and so on. Although traditional mooncake is favorable during this harvest celebration, new generation mooncake especially those with logo or company name imprinted on the packaging material has also gained favor as a gift item all year round. Taking into consideration the shape, taste, design and the packaging of the moon cakes, it can be concluded that they can be used to mark any occasion in a uniquely Chinese way.
Theme Mooncakes for Special Occasions
Be it birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, baby shower or any other occasion, it is certain that customised mooncakes do serve as fantastic novelty favours and gifts. Since they are small in size, they can easily be packed and delivered to the clients and at the same time due to the fancy designs and rich fillings they create a feeling of royalty. Here are some ideas for using customized mooncakes to celebrate special events:Here are some ideas for using customized mooncakes to celebrate special events:
Wedding Mooncakes
For instance, there are white or silver mooncakes of delicate designs that represent the bride and groom, cherry blossoms, dragon and phoenix, their name and the wedding date or any symbols of good luck. These beautifully packaged treats also look great displayed on the dessert table and mini mooncakes are equally as delicious. Some Chinese couples might even plan to have a mooncake making demonstration for their guests for a destination wedding.
Birthday Mooncakes
The most common occasions that people order shaped mooncakes with engravings is during birthdays. Minimooncakes are made in cute animal shapes as a panda; pig, sea shell and fan designs and have the child’s name and age on it. For the grown-ups, it has become quite trendy for people to send mooncakes bearing the zodiac images of the year and flowers that one associate with. Mini mooncakes are best served in small stands or towers like vases and could function as centerpieces.
Baby Shower Mooncakes
New parents would also love to have pastel mooncakes having printed designs of storks, rattles, pacifiers and other baby-related designs. In fact, they can be not only delicious and appealing to the guests, but also interesting for parents to preserve as souvenirs and even use as home decorations for the baby’s room. Customized mini mooncakes with the expected baby’s name and date of birth are also a speciality especially for baby shower and new baby events.
Anniversary Mooncakes
Special occasions such as birthday celebrations are also popular events where the mooncake is traditionally presented in a similar customized form. There are symbols that have been in use for years that include, peonies for the 12 th anniversary, orchids for the 28 th or orange blossoms for the 25 th that can be incorporated in the design. Another common aspect is to have the married couple’s name along with the date of their wedding inscribed on the cake. As for the wedding celebration, mooncakes with the phrases ‘double happiness’ on them are perfect for any year of anniversary.
Business Mooncakes As Corporate Gifts
Apart from individualistic usages, especially for birthday celebration, the practice of sending specially baked mooncakes to colleagues or business partners has developed into a significant business gift giving culture during the Mid-Autumn Festival in China and some other parts of Asia. They use them to welcome clients, partners, employees and associates, as a show of warmth. While givers often give conventional baked mooncakes with standard packaging that are available at supermarkets and hypermarkets, there are countless chances to upgrade corporate mooncake gifts with unique branding and more sophisticated packaging.
Products include client and VIP mooncake gifts
Another business etiquette that is practiced is the provision of mooncake gift sets to the key clients, those who are always loyal and the VIPS implying positive attributes such as prosperity, harmony and wisdom. This can help in expressing gratitude for important business relationships such as clients, employees, partners or associates by adding accessories that include hand-decorated boxes, name engraving or fillings made from fruits, nuts, truffle, ham or caviar. In the multinational firms, the messages engraved may be in different languages.
Employee Mooncake Gifts
Manufacturers in China who desire to uplift the employee morale especially during the Mid-Autumn Festival season may consider giving custom mooncake to their staff as a form of appreciation. It is a tradition for large companies to put the slogan, mascot or logo on the outer tins of the mooncake. Other potential further employee customization of the mooncakes might be the letters from the leaders of the organization which can be included in the package, or the inscriptions on the mooncakes themselves which might be given to the best performers.
Promotional and Branded Mooncakes
The creative and innovative companies also use the mooncakes as a form of promotion for product and company branding as well as creating awareness about the 3-week Mid-Autumn Festival gifting period. For instance these mooncakes can be marketed effectively as merchandising tools as they come in imaginative shapes and designs that relate to the company’s products and services and even their identity. They are typically used at fairs, press conferences or meetings, and as awards.
For instance, technology brands could stuff their mooncakes into shapes of gadgets while car manufacturers could display their automobiles. Some hospitality groups may consider the mooncakes to have pictures or even themes relating to their restaurant decors. Fashion and jewelry retailers can follow the same example they put on their products or the containers that they use. These innovative mooncakes contain chocolate, fruits or other gourmet ingredients; such sweet creations serve as unique edible business logos.
The following are some tips that has to be considered while ordering for custom mooncakes:
Indeed, the opportunities for the range and the choice of unique and individually designed mooncakes are limitless. However, the designs, fillings and decorations must be planned in a particular manner as some strategic decisions are involved. Here is a checklist covering some key considerations:Here is a checklist covering some key considerations:
Occasion or Theme
Make sure that the shapes, colours, symbols and motifs used to adorn the cake match the celebration that is being marked, whether it is a wedding, birthday, business ceremony or any public holiday. This involves informing the audience of dates, names, age and messages to include in the narration.
Quantity
Decide the number of mooncake gifts required by the guests’ list or the number of clients and employees to recipients. Some extra should be provided, it is better to stick to the quantity that is easily dividable by tens for gift sets, for example, 20, 30, 50 or 100.
Design, Shape and Molding
Choosing the shapes should be done carefully based on the chosen theme or picked shapes like: flowers, animals, hearts, stars or the shapes of the products. The round gliengao molds enable hollows for inscriptions of messages and motifs. The Suzhou style of preparing mooncakes is unique in that the dough used is embossed with beautiful patterns.
Colors and Patterns
In the perspective of culture, different shades denote different feelings and significance. Red and gold colors are related to luck and fun and white or silver as the symbol of purity and sophistication. Pastels are best associated with baby showers and births. Do not wear black, this is something to avoid when giving gifts since the color is associated with bad luck and sorrow.
Fillings and Ingredients
This is an important consideration for China because fillings made from lotus seed paste, melon seed paste, red bean paste, minced meat, salted egg yolk, durian and other prestige items are preferred by Chinese consumers. It is more preferable for their palates since chocolate, nuts and fruit fillings do not deviate from western tastes. Some bakeries also adjust fillings and even make them low in sugar or completely vegan, if needed.
Decoration
Add food coloring designs to mooncakes gifts or use pressed flowers or leaves on them to make it edible. Chocolate motifs bring elegance and crystal sugar art adds a touch of class. In engraving and embossing, there are several details made and they are more personal. Tins, ribbons and flowers which are physical are part of presentation.
Packaging and Boxes
In round, octagonal and rectangular shapes, select gift boxes with colors and finishing that complement the theme you have set. Plantable packaging containing seeds: If you want to present something to someone and want to gift it with an ecological pack, you can use plantable packaging to pack your gifts. Ensure that you have included the cultural myths associated with moon cakes and their significance in the brochures.
The meticulous unveiling of new mooncake gifts using specially designed symbols relevant to the receivers makes mooncake gifts suitable for any celebratory social or business occasion. The positive associations and intricate drawings turn these pastries into confectionery masterpiece, which in terms of the onometry becomes the sign of the offering for the people enjoying those delights during China’s harvest and other celebrative days.
