Demand for locally made mooncakes soars in Australia

While mooncakes made in China, Singapore and Malaysia remain popular in Australia, there has been an upswing in interest this year for pastries made locally, SBS News reported on Thursday.

Mooncakes made by local food stores were a huge hit during this year's Mid-Autumn Festival in Australia. Some bakeries in Sydney started preparing for the festival days ahead of time to meet demand.

Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated in Chinese culture, with similar holidays also celebrated in South Korea, Japan and some areas of Southeast Asia. The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. Mooncakes - pastries traditionally featuring lotus seed paste, red bean or nut fillings - are eaten and shared throughout the festival.

Steve Hou, managing director of Sweet Lu bakery in Sydney's Chinatown, said his mooncakes have been "flying out the bakery door" since June.

"(It is) unbelievable, it is so busy. We are just making mooncakes all the time. Some of my mooncakes are already sold out," he said. "Our factory has three shifts, from the morning to 3 am. The staff can rest but the factory never rests. The oven is always warm - it's on all the time".

Hou says Sweet Lu has already sold more than 10,000 mooncake gift boxes this year.

Omar Hsu, owner of the Ommi's Food and Catering, a mooncake seller in Sydney's inner west said his business had more than doubled compared with last year.

As the Asian and Chinese populations in Australia continue to grow, Hsu said preferences for mooncakes were also changing, particularly among the younger generation.

"We always consider mixing traditional and modern. We don't want to lose that traditional flavor from our memory. We want to take something people already love and make it better," he said.