Rule to limit redemption of moon cake coupons

The Shanghai Cuisine Association will issue a new rule that allows customers to redeem their moon cake coupons for a limited period after they expire, local media reported Tuesday.

The new rule will restrict how long customers can take to use their coupons after the city's commerce regulator decided last year to prohibit manufacturers of the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival holiday treat from invalidating expired coupons.

Moon cake coupons are nearly ubiquitous in the months leading up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on September 19 this year.

Moon cake producers issued more than 9 million coupons in Shanghai last year, the Shanghai Evening Post reported. About 270,000 of the coupons were not redeemed before they expired, 50 percent more than in 2011.

The food and restaurant industry group hopes to issue the new rule within the next 10 days. It will take effect before the start of the traditional "moon cake season," said Duan Fugen, the association's secretary-general.

The rule aims to balance the interests of consumers and moon cake manufacturers. "We will decide how long customers will be allowed to collect moon cakes after the coupons expire," Duan told the Global Times.

A well-known moon cake producer suffered a 5 million yuan loss after the Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce decreed last year that expired coupons must remain valid. "The companies had to spend more on transportation and storage for the moon cakes that customers didn't collect on time," Duan said.

Some producers got around the ban last year by providing fewer moon cakes or by offering other kinds of food as a substitute to customers holding expired coupons, the news website xinmin.cn reported.

Under the new rule, producers will not be allowed to offer substitute products for moon cake coupons during the extension period, Duan said.

The industry group has yet to decide how long the period will last. Duan said that the association will discuss the issue with the Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce, the Shanghai Consumer Council and the moon cake manufacturers.