Sales of Yuanxiao rice balls surge by 2,500% during Lantern Festival

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From February 15 to 18, the sales volume of Yuanxiao, or glutinous rice balls, increased by 2,586 percent compared to the same period last year, with south China and north China accounting for 58.6 percent and 41.4 percent respectively, data released by Suning.com showed.

Thanks to e-commerce platforms, many time-honored Yuanxiao brands have become famous online and become hot sellers. "Flower Fairy Tangyuan" got 30 million impressions on Xiaohongshu, an online sharing platform. 360,000 packs were sold on Tmall platform and in supermarkets in the five days running up to the Lantern Festival.

Photo from Xiaohongshu

Besides Yuanxiao with black sesame, peanut and red bean paste fillings, many traditional brands such as Daoxiang Village and Ningbo Gangyagou launched Yuanxiao with exotic flavors like durian, salty yolk and meat fillings on various e-commerce platforms, which were smash hits among consumers.

As well as food, the Lantern Festival also saw a surge of 469 percent in the sales of DIY lanterns.