With the Mid-Autumn Festival just around the corner, Leong Yin Pastry Sdn Bhd, one of the country's largest mooncake and pastry manufacturers, has unveiled 48 new flavours of halal mooncakes this year to tempt the taste buds.

Its Managing Director, Leong Kok Fei, said the group's production plant here had been operating round the clock to meet orders before the actual day of Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival which falls on Oct 4.

Despite the uncertain economy, he said the demand for mooncakes and mooncake paste had consistently increased every year, and this year, the company had introduced new mooncake flavours including gula melaka, longan with red beans and wheat germ with red dates.

"We have over 40 years of experience in making mooncakes and the product plus the paste have penetrated 17 countries including the United States, Australia, China, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates and most of the Southeast Asian countries," he told Bernama during an interview recently.

He said although there were many flavours available in the market, many mooncake lovers still preferred the seasonal flavours -- lotus seeds, pandan, coconut and durian.

Mooncakes are traditional delicacies served during the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival. They are offered on family gatherings or between business partners and friends while celebrating the festival which is for lunar worship and moon watching.

However, Leong said due to increasing demand for Leong Yin mooncakes every year, the group is now actively look for a bigger facility to expand its production capacity.

He said the group's exports of mooncake and paste had increase by about 20 per cent this year and it was eyeing Germany as a new potential market next year.

"Every year, we will begin preparing four months before the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival, and this year, we have invested close to RM1 million to increase our production capacity to meet the demand," he said.

He added that the group was able to produce about 15,000 pieces of mooncakes and six tonnes of mooncake paste a day at its existing facility in Bukit Mertajam.

Leong also said there was no need for consumers to worry about the quality of the products as the company's production line had obtained various certifications, among them, ISO 22000, Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point and halal certification.

Leong Yin sells its mooncakes at between RM16 and RM20 a piece and the products are available at major supermarkets in the northern region.

-- BERNAMA