Sustainable Swiftlet Farming

Sustainable Swiftlet Farming, by Benjamin Chai

Swiftlet Workshop Video

Check out the Swiftlet Farming workshop, organized by a friend in Papar, Sabah.

Malaysia is still new in this industry compare with Indonesia. This industry started in Malaysia back in the 1990’s where forest fire occurred at Indonesia which has created a golden opportunity for Malaysia. The incident has led millions of swiftlet migrating to Malaysia. Thus our journey started.

ALL businesses are built on blood, sweat and tears, at least in the figurative sense. But one industry thrives on another bodily fluid – saliva. Bird saliva, that is. And not just any bird. It has to be the swiftlet, whose nests of hardened spit have been a delicacy treasured by the Chinese for centuries.

Depending on the quality, marketplace and timing, a kilogramme of unprocessed edible bird nest can fetch a few thousand ringgit.

The processing, a tedious and labour-intensive affair, typically doubles the value of the nests. Quoting a senior Sabah government official, a news report early last month says bird nest is sold at RM4,000 to RM18,000 per kg.

The global market is said to be worth billions of ringgit. Thanks to its head start of 20 years or so in swiftlet farming on a commercial scale, Indonesia supplies 70% to 80% of the bird nests consumed worldwide, mainly in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Macau, Singapore and North America.