With Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, gourmets are rushing to purchase custard mooncakes.

The coveted Cantonese-style mooncakes, with their delicate thin skin and their melt-in the mouth lotus paste and salted egg yolk filling, are produced by Hong Kong's Maxim Group.

According to a Nielsen research report, the award-winning mooncakes have been the best-selling mooncakes in Hong Kong for 19 consecutive years, and the tasty pies have a growing popularity in the Chinese mainland market.

"Our mooncakes are 100 percent made in Hong Kong with good quality ingredients. It's the best seasonal snack to share with others during the Mid-Autumn Festival, especially with hot tea," says Raymond Tong, Maxim Group's chief operating officer.

"The sales of our mooncakes in the Chinese mainland account for about 50 percent of our total sales. And we're making efforts to attract more mainland customers," he says.

The mooncakes are available in mainland supermarkets and the e-retailing platforms Tmall and JD, with prices between about 200 to 400 yuan ($ 30 to 60) depending on how many are in a box.

The company is also cooperating with the popular photo editing app Meitu to promote its mooncakes among younger consumers. And they have also partnered with Marvel and Disney to have characters such as Spiderman on the packages.

"Chinese mainland tourists are also an important group of customers at this time of year, because our mooncakes are popular souvenirs for them to take back for families and friends," Tong says.

Data shows that about 20.9 mil-lion Chinese mainland travelers traveled to Hong Kong in the first half year of 2017, with Hong Kong's diverse culinary culture replacing shopping as the main attraction.

"You can immerse yourself in the dining culture of Hong Kong at our eateries," Tong says.

The group operates a wide range of fast food shops, bakeries, and restaurants in the special administrative region, offering various cuisines including Cantonese, Japanese and Southeast Asian.

Reservations are needed at some of the company's popular restaurants, such as Maxim's Palace Chinese Restaurant, where tourists can enjoy a variety of dim sum from pushcarts and sample authentic Cantonese dishes, which showcases the original taste of the ingredients without using monosodium glutamate.

"If you go to Cafe Landmark in downtown Hong Kong for an elegant afternoon tea or meal, be prepared to bump into some local celebrities, who like to frequent the place," Tong says.

Another recommendation he gives for visiting foodies is the Cheesecake Factory, which is known for its extensive menu, including dozens of signature cheesecakes and desserts.

Tong says the group's diverse brands with their good reputations and standardized operations have ensured its mainland business has grown over the past decade. Some of their food outlets have now opened in first- and second-tier cities, increasing the group's popularity.

The group is now bringing three of its restaurants to Beijing.

The Cantonese restaurant Maxim's Jade Garden, Cafe Landmark and the Cheesecake Factory will be open one after another in Beijing's Wangfujing commercial area before the first quarter of 2018.

"It's good news for gourmets from Beijing that we're bringing three restaurants to the city for the first time," Tong says.

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(China Daily 09/23/2017 page14)