Factory busy making navel orange mooncakes

By Ma Yuhan, Yichang International Communication Studio

With just a few days left before the Mid-Autumn Festival, workers in Zigui County are ramping up the production of naval orange mooncakes at Yichang’s largest local agricultural and food company. 
 

Workers making navel orange mooncakes at a factory of Qugu International Agriculture Group, Yichang’s largest agricultural and food company, in Zigui County. Photo by Zheng Jiayu.
 

This year's Mid-Autumn Festival will take place on September 17. A traditional way for Chinese people to celebrate the festival is to indulge in mooncakes. Food processing companies in Zigui are working overtime to meet the increased demand that occurs at this time each year.

Zigui is renowned as China's "Hometown of Navel Oranges." In recent years, the county has developed a variety of new products, including a navel orange mooncake, navel orange wine, and navel orange vinegar, with the aim of extending the industry chain.

Qugu’s navel orange mooncakes are meticulously produced with a locally sourced navel orange jam. These mooncakes are embraced by consumers for their fruit flavor and delightful sweetness.

Workers making navel orange mooncakes at a factory of Qugu International Agriculture Group, Yichang’s largest agricultural and food company, in Zigui County. Photo by Zheng Jiayu.

"Our production lines are highly automated, requiring only 13 to 15 workers. We have the capacity to produce 120,000 mooncakes daily," said Li Haitao, manager of the leisure food workshop which is making the mooncakes.

It is expected that by mid-September, the group will produce and sell 8 million mooncakes in total, with an estimated revenue of over 25 million yuan (US$3.516 million).