THE Mid-Autumn Festival just wouldn’t be the same without mooncakes. As usual, mooncake makers and bakers are devising a range of flavors to suit all tastes, but sales are expected to decline once again this year due to central government’s continued campaign on cutting spending on unnecessary items.

The bulk of mooncakes will cost in the 100 yuan (US$16.2) to 300 yuan range this year. While extravagantly packaged mooncakes still exist, they are much more rare compared with several years ago.

The Shanghai Confectionary Association says mooncake production decreased to 22,000 tons from 24,000 last year. It also says sales will likely dip to 2 billion yuan this year from 2.13 billion yuan in 2013.

“This is a tough year for mooncake producers,” says Feng Fusheng, the association’s deputy secretary-general.

Feng also expects a shorter sales period of 50 days — usually it’s between 60 and 70 — due to the holiday’s early date on September 8 this year.

The government’s campaign to reduce extravagant and unnecessary spending has had an impact on local levels of government and state-owned enterprises, but individuals and private businesses still like to buy the tasty snacks to give as festival gifts.

Chen Bin, a retiree, says she likes to buy bulk-pack mooncakes at supermarkets.

“I can pick different flavors and get the exact number I want,” the 58-year-old says. “More importantly, the simple packaging saves me money. I eat the cakes, not the packages.”

The time-honored brand of Xinya mooncakes, which are stuffed with meat, has once again attracted long lines at its location on Nanjing Road E.

The classic meat-stuffed mooncake is 0.2 yuan cheaper than last year and its crab-meat version is being sold for a 20-percent discount.

Meanwhile, luxury hotels say the government campaign hasn’t had a major impact on their mooncake sales although they have made a conscious effort to reduce packaging.

“Our guests are mainly privately owned companies and business travelers, so the policy hasn’t affected us that much,” says Selin Xu, public relations officer at Hyatt on the Bund.

“And since online shopping is becoming increasingly popular, we are also joining the fad to promote group purchase of our mooncakes.”

Over at Pudong Shangri-La, East Shanghai, mooncake prices range from 88 yuan to 368 yuan although the hotel does offer a 1,988-yuan gift package, says Stella Gu, the hotel’s director of communications.

“The sales channel will be both online and off-line,” she adds.