From tedious to a hundred flowers bloom - China's mooncake packaging development

The moon cake of the Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important traditional folk customs of the Chinese nation. Moon cake packaging culture, which is an important part of the moon cake culture, adapts to different historical periods. In my opinion, the development of moon cake packaging in China can be roughly divided into the following stages:

Pursuit of food and clothing: The boring period of monotony after the founding of the People's Republic to the end of the Cultural Revolution, and the ongoing political struggle, made the moon cake industry almost stalemate, and the madness of the Cultural Revolution actually marked the rich and humane Mid-Autumn moon cakes with the seal of the closure of the capital. People in those days were eager for good things and good taste, and they had nothing to do with moon cake packaging. Because of the shyness in the bag, it is extremely common to buy a couple of bare-chested moon cakes for family members. An old newspaper with a paper bag is enough. The "Yi Benyue" square paper moon cake gift box designed by the famous artist Hang Yanying has added color to the mooncakes of Shanghai Xing Hua Lou. It has been indefinite for several decades and is almost universal.

In the food and clothing age: The reform and opening up of reform and opening up has brought a spring breeze to the moon cake industry.

With Hong Kong and Taiwanese-funded food industries rushing to the mainland, they have injected vitality into the moon cake packaging industry in the mainland. Trendy moon cakes and moon cake packaging are proceeding almost at the same time, and moon cake packaging has begun to develop toward the direction of gifts. Consumers have traditionally re-emphasized the quality of moon cakes instead of moon cakes, which has prompted a welcome change in their packaging. In addition to the shape of the square, there are also round, elliptical, polygonal, etc. materials; On the basis of boxes and tin boxes, plastic gift boxes are also widely used; on the subject matter, they are extended from flowers, myths, landscapes, etc., from the mortal and bright moon. But generally speaking, this stage of the moon cake gift packaging mainly in the middle and low, the carton accounted for more than 65%, 20%
Around, plastic is less than 15%.

The quasi-communicating era: blossoming in the mid-1990s, the quasi-communicating age of living standards arrived ahead of schedule, and the refinement, gentrification, and taste of moon cake packaging have become increasingly strong. At the same time, in order to obtain the favor of consumers, moon cake packaging pays much attention to versatility, appreciation, and good looks. It presents a gratifying scene of blooming flowers and flowers. Packaging has become an important means for well-known companies to attract consumers.

Versatility: The market baskets are popular, among which the Tokyo basket is the most popular. After the moon cakes are eaten, they can be used as craft ornaments, jewelry, foods, etc., which are pleasing to people and willing to be preserved. For example, the cartoon gift box “tour coach” is a toy that children like very much.

In order to correct the long-term competition disorder, counterfeiting, and continuous disputes in the mooncake packaging industry, mooncake packaging manufacturers in the country began to seek help from the law. Since 1997, hundreds of packaging designs have been filed for patents and have been protected by law.

What needs to be pointed out here is that for a few brand-name companies to maintain their brand image, they still maintain the same basic color for a long time and follow the unified logo. Even so, such leading companies are brewing to adapt to the fierce competition in the market.

The well-to-do period: “ Green” beckons to us in the new century. With the advent of a relatively prosperous era, moon cake packaging is bound to shift to green packaging. Returning to nature and pursuing health is not only a requirement for the quality of moon cakes, but also an inevitable requirement for its packaging. The development of gift boxes made of bamboo, rattan and wood will be a major trend. In addition, the strengthening of consumers’ health awareness and the influx of moon cakes into supermarkets, the moon cakes will be packed with individual packaging. It can be foreseen that green packaging will create favorable conditions for the export of domestic moon cakes. With the high-tech breakthroughs such as vacuum packaging, anti-corrosion and anti-variation, and the best combination of traditional culture and trendy culture, all this will enable the “green” moon cake packaging to add a brighter and more charming style to the entire packaging industry.