Bird’s nest fever in Indonesia

Bird’s nest with sky-high prices has become a significant source of income for farmers in West Kalimantan province, Indonesia.
Formed from the frozen saliva of the white bird’s nest, the nest (bird’s nest) has a history of more than 1,200 years in the cuisine of Southeast Asia and China. Bird’s nest is said to be a nutritious food that brings many beauty benefits and improves health for all ages.

“Bird’s nest nourishes the vitality of the body’s organs, increases energy and metabolism. In addition, the nest also helps to dissolve phlegm, reduce asthma and, improve voice and problems.” stomach problems, support kidney function “, Nikkei quoted expert Craig Thorburn – an Australian scientist, specializing in research on the effects of bird’s nest – share. Traditional swallow’s nest is very difficult to harvest. The white bird nest often nest in moist dark caves in tropical Southeast Asia. In the old times, the swallow bird’s nest had to climb on a cliff with fragile bamboo ladder up to 60 meters high. Bird’s nest (bird’s nest) need to be cleaned manually. The seller must remove impurities such as feathers, feces and dirt before selling to the customer. Photo: Nikkei Asian Review. “Oriental sturgeon eggs” The risks when harvesting the nests are very large, so the price of natural oats is up to hundreds of USD / nest. The high prices make the white nest one of the most valuable products in the world, also known as the “Oriental sturgeon eggs”. The high nutritional and culinary value makes the demand for oats from middle- and upper-class Chinese consumers soar. From 1957 to 1997, the number of natural white nests fell sharply by 88%. “The nest harvesters usually collect as much as possible, regardless of whether the nest is complete or not,” said Creighton Connolly, senior professor of geography at Lincoln University. To meet the increasing demand for bird’s nest, in the 1990s many businesses started trying to raise swiftlets indoors in multi-storey buildings built with sand, chalk and cement, simulating the surface of caves that nest in the wild Then, the swiftlet farming factories turn up like mushrooms in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and most recently Cambodia. According to the Central Statistics Office of Indonesia, last year, the country exported 1,200 tons of nests. Bird nest farming emerges in West Kalimantan province. Photo: Nikkei Asian Review. Initially, Java Island was the focal point of oat farming in Indonesia. However, thanks to the advantage of cheap land and a thriving white bird population, West Kalimantan province – located on the Indonesian island of Borneo – in recent years has become the center of the bird’s nest industry. The nest factories also sprouted like mushrooms. Siku is a bird-raising farmer in Sanggua, an inland city in West Kalimantan. He built a bird’s nest on his rooftop in 2017. The swiftlets were attracted to wall-mounted high-frequency bird chandeliers and callouts and came to nest at Siku’s nesting facility. “Many of my neighbors build bird nests to make money, so I want to do the same,” Siku said. Booming farming oats He said it took about 3 months to build and cost approximately 7,000 USD. In the first year, his bird’s nest attracted quite a few birds. But by Monday, the number of birds coming to nest increased clearly. “Bird’s nest usually enter the nest at 4pm and stay all night. Birds know to go for food by themselves, so I do not need to feed”, said Siku. Mr. Siku produces about 1 kg of bird nests / month, earning 10 million rupiah (nearly 690 USD). This revenue is four times the average monthly salary of 170 USD of workers in Indonesia. “Raising oats is very profitable. I recoup my investment costs very quickly”, Siku said. Siku sells the nest to Tommy Chen, a Chinese-Indonesian bird nest business that lives on Batam Island. “This is a very special dish. Bird’s nest is usually cooked with sugar and pineapple leaves, then refrigerated,” Chen said. Each month, Chen buys about 300 kg of bird’s nest from the people of West Kalimantan province. “This job is not easy anymore because people are rushing to buy the West Kalimantan swallow nest. In the capital Pontianak, the price is about 850 USD / kg. If I go down to the suburbs, the price can be 10-20% cheaper” Chen said. Siku’s swiftlet farming facility in West Kalimantan. Photo: Ian Neubauer. From Pontianak, Chen shipped the unprocessed nest to Jakarta, where his uncle owned a nest processing factory. Here, workers will remove impurities such as manure, bird food and other dirt from the nest by hand. “Many places clean the nest with chemicals, but it’s not good for the health of the user,” Chan said. He said the clean and white the nest is, the higher the value is. “After cleaning, we send it to China to sell to wholesalers or directly to restaurants. There are 4 different types of oats, grades A, B, C and D. Prices range from 1,400 to 2,100 USD. / kg, “he said. Chan revealed that his family does not have enough oats to meet the needs of customers. He shared: “Bird’s nest is becoming more and more popular in China. During the Lunar New Year, the rich families and wealthy families always give each other Indonesian nest because it is considered the best thing. At the restaurant, a cup of swallow’s nest costs about 30 USD “. Bird’s nest soup is also sold at upscale Chinese restaurants in Indonesia, such as the Ah Yat Abalone restaurant on the resort island of Bali. Mr. Lin Chee Keong, chef specializing in Malaysian – Chinese cuisine, said each bowl of swallow nest soup contains about 40 g of oats but costs up to 55 USD.