VIETNAM BIRDS’ NEST INDUSTRY

OVERALL

Birds’ Nest which was primarily known as Swallow Nest in the early days was first found during the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907) back in China nearly 1500 years ago. According to much historical data, in the classical Chinese Medicine Book about healthy food, swallow nests were imported into China from the Southeast Asian region dated back more than 500 years ago, Admiral Cheng Ho brought the precious bird’s nest from Southeast Asia to the Chinese emperor. Since then, bird’s nest has been traditionally used by Chinese royalties and ancient beauties to maintain their beauty and body wellness.

Bird’s nest soup is a soup made from the nest of a kind of cave’dwelling swift. It is regarded as a delicacy, health booster, life prolonger and aphrodisiac in Asia, particularly in China and Hong Kong, and is said rejuvenate skin, clear up complexions, clean out the digestive track, and cure lung cancer. 

A kilogram of top quality bird’s nests can go for $3,000 to $4,000, half the price of gold, and is the product of about 120 nests. 

There are many kind of birds but only three of the swifts can be eaten. 1) the edible-nest or white-nest swiftlet; 2) Germain’s swiftlet; and 3) the black-nest swiftlet. These birds live primarily in large limestone caves on islands or near the sea in Southeast Asia. Both males and females participate in nest building. The sticky gelatinous noodle-like fibers used to make the nests are secreted by well-developed salivary glands in their mouth The glands enlarge during the breeding season. The swifts can take up two months to build a nest.

Take a look about Birds’s Nest History summary here

Khánh Hòa Birds’ Nest

The coast, especially islands from the central province of Quảng Bình in central Việt Nam, to Phú Quốc island off the coast of Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand are natural habitats for swiftlets.

But the three largest concentrations of EBN (Edible birds’ nest) are in Chàm Islands in Quảng Nam in central, Phương Mai Peninsula in Bình Định is a province located in the South Central Coast and the swiftlet islands in Khánh Hòa Province.

Việt Nam has about 50 swiftlet islands with over 180 caves, of which 30 islands with 142 caves from Vạn Ninh District to Cam Ranh City, both within Khánh Hòa Province and are under the management of the Khánh Hòa Salangane Nest Company.

Khánh Hòa Province located in the South Central Coast has the largest number of islands which are home to the swiftlets and its products have been rated as having the finest quality in the region.

Of the 30 swiftlet islands in Khánh Hòa Province, the most famous swiftlet islands are Hòn Sam, Hòn Ngoại (largest natural swiftlets cave in Việt Nam) and Hòn Nội, but it’s Hòn Nội in Nha Trang City is the only island partially open for tourists five months a year. Too minimal human footprints and protect the sensitivity of breeding birds, their caves are strictly protected to prevent people from going near the islands. Moreover, to preserve the local environment and ensure sustainable development, the number of visitors is limited to 300 people per day near the islands.

Birds’ Nest Farming

With its long coast and mangrove and protective forests that are extremely rich natural habitats for many types of insects, Việt Nam has huge potential for breeding swifts.

With Asia’s, increasingly wealthy population demands more EBN and Việt Nam is keen to become a major producer of the delicacy.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development promotes and encourages southern birds’ nest companies to discuss measures to further develop bird nest farming in the area.

Farms generally produce much cleaner bird’s nests due to the controlled environments where the nests are built, resulting in a high-quality harvest. Licensed farms also practice sustainable harvesting where the nests are only collected after they are abandoned by the swiftlets. Cave nests, on the other hand, are built on the walls of caves and contain more foreign materials and impurities as compared to house nests.

Bottom line: the lower the saliva % and the more processing and cleaning required will result in a low-quality bird’s nest. Nest with 95% saliva concentration would be the best while a concentration of 50% and 10% saliva would fall into the second or third tier.

The birds’ nest farming and trading started in 2004 from southern provinces. As of now, 9,000 households in 42 out of 63 cities and provinces in Việt Nam are breeding swift for bird’s nests and the numbers continue to grow. The Mekong Delta has the most number of bird’s nest farmers, followed by the Southeast Region and the Central Coast.

10 years ago the whole country had about 1,500 swiftlet farming houses with an output of one tonne of nests a year of which Khánh Hòa Province produces half. It is expected that by the end of 2020, the number of these houses will increase to about 10,000, making a great contribution to preserving this species of bird and increasing the national output.

To increase the success in birds’ nest farming, the design it to resemble a cave. The sound used in the building is recorded from the cave or any other successful birdhouses. Correct temperature, wind, humidity, smell and lighting are vital.

The lucrative industry is not without high risk. After an initial investment of USD 80,000 to US$500,000 to build a birdhouse structure, and the monthly cost of about USD 50, a successful operation can earn as much as USD 1 million annually. However, there is no guarantee investing in a birdhouse will pay off. Many structures fail to attract birds, and if disease hits a birdhouse, the entire investment could be lost.

Bird Nest Benefits

Due to the high glycoprotein, collagen and amino acid, antioxidants, hormones, and various minerals such as calcium, potassium, iron, magnesium, birds nest are treasured for many benefits. It is also used in skincare ointment to maintain youthful skin. Bird nest is highly recommended for

• pregnant ladies,
• mothers who just gave birth,
• young children,
• sickly or weak
• patients recovering from surgeries
• sports athletes
• celebrities, actress, and models who need to maintain youthful skin and looks
• senior folks.

Chinese love birds nest because of all these benefits to their bodies:

1. boost immunity system
2. improve healing and recovery
3. build up body strength
4. improve beauty
5. maintain youthfully skin

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