Building the Vietnamese bird's nest brand: [Part 1] Reaching the world

Currently, the country has about 24,000 birdhouses, mainly concentrated in 42 provinces and cities. Photo: Nguyen Thuy.

Key economic sector

With its special climate and long coastline, Vietnam has great advantages, favorable for the growth of swiftlets. Since 2004, in some provinces in the South, the profession of raising swiftlets for commercial purposes has begun to appear. Over the past two decades, the Vietnamese swiftlet industry has developed strongly with diverse forms and scales, creating jobs for local people. Bird's nests are also known as "white gold" with high economic value.

To date, the country has about 24,000 bird nest houses, mainly concentrated in 42/63 provinces and cities, with an annual output of 150 to 200 tons. In addition, the flavor and quality of Vietnamese bird nests have been highly appreciated by international customers, especially bird nests in coastal provinces.

According to Mr. Le Thanh Dai, Chairman of the Vietnam Bird's Nest Association, over the past time, the Party and State have paid special attention, not only through policies such as the Animal Husbandry Law and Decree 13, but also through conferences and seminars to promote the development of the bird's nest industry.

“Bird’s nest has now become a key economic sector, included in the list of agricultural products of Vietnam and has an annual export target assigned by the Prime Minister ,” said the Chairman of the Vietnam Bird’s Nest Association.

Mr. Huynh Tan Hai, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Khanh Hoa province, said that Khanh Hoa not only leads in natural bird's nest output, accounting for the largest proportion in the country, but also stands out in its experience in managing, protecting and sustainably exploiting these resources.

One of the leading enterprises in the local bird's nest industry is Khanh Hoa State-owned Salanganes Nest Company Limited, which manages 33 bird's nest islands with 173 bird's nest caves, providing natural bird's nest products, typical of Khanh Hoa.

"The company not only focuses on product development, but also cooperates with coastal localities from Quang Binh to Con Dao to support, restore and develop natural islands and caves, enhancing the potential for exploiting bird's nests in Khanh Hoa and nationwide," said the leader of the Department of Industry and Trade of Khanh Hoa province, adding that Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest State-owned Company Limited was honored by Asia Records as the unit managing the largest number of bird's nest island caves and the largest output of natural island bird's nests in the Asian market.

Mr. Huynh Tan Hai, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Khanh Hoa province, visited the booth displaying bird's nest products of Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest State-owned Company Limited at the 2025 Vietnam Outstanding Export Goods Fair. Photo: Nguyen Thuy.

According to Mr. Truong Van Minh, Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Kien Giang province, covered by 143 islands, of which 43 are inhabited, the Kien Giang bird nest farming industry is developing strongly with more than 3,000 bird nest houses, contributing more than 20 tons of raw bird nests each year to the country. The province currently has 23 enterprises operating in this field.

"Kien Giang aims to develop and form the Kien Giang bird's nest cooperative, but is still looking for opportunities to build its own brand," said Mr. Truong Van Minh.

Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the current bird's nest output in Ho Chi Minh City only accounts for about 1/10 of the total output of the whole country. Of which, it is mainly concentrated in Can Gio with 519 bird's nest houses. However, the quality of Can Gio bird's nest is highly appreciated.

"We focus on building and developing the Can Gio bird's nest brand as a typical agricultural product brand for the city, following the direction of the city's leaders," said Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong, adding that the city plans to coordinate with the Vietnam Bird's Nest Association to organize the Bird's Nest Festival in November this year. On that basis, we will coordinate with the Bird's Nest Associations of provinces/cities to build the Vietnamese bird's nest brand to exploit the Chinese and world markets.

Vietnam has many advantages for the growth of swiftlets. Photo: Nguyen Thuy.

Bird's nest and ginseng

Leading a delegation of Korean businesses to Vietnam to attend the 2025 Vietnam Outstanding Export Fair, Mr. Jeong Ji Hoon, Vice President of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (KOCHAM), expressed his interest and special appreciation for the Vietnamese bird's nest industry.

Mr. Jeong Ji Hoon commented that in Vietnam, bird's nest has long been honored as a precious medicinal herb, associated with royal cuisine and often used as gifts on special occasions or for distinguished guests. However, despite its great nutritional and cultural value, bird's nest products in Vietnam have not really developed in diversity, but are mainly consumed in their original form, not fully exploited to become a series of rich products on the market.

According to Mr. Jeong Ji Hoon, in Korea, ginseng is a famous specialty and has been researched and developed into many diverse product lines, widely distributed around the world. Whenever ginseng is mentioned, people immediately think of Korea.

"I hope that Vietnam will promote innovation and develop products from bird's nest, so that one day, when the world mentions bird's nest, Vietnam will be the first country to be remembered," said Mr. Jeong Ji Hoon, pledging to coordinate with the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City to bring Vietnamese bird's nest to the international level, increase commercial value and bring quality nutritional products to consumers around the world. In particular, it will open up opportunities for cooperation in developing products with high added value from the combination of Korean ginseng and Vietnamese bird's nest.

Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade Nguyen Nguyen Phuong said that in the near future, the Department will work with KOCHAM to calculate and select quality bird's nest products that can be exported back to Korea. "Both sides will confirm the selected bird's nest products to make it easier to export back to Korea," said the leader of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade.

Source: https://nongnghiep.vn/xay-dung-thuong-hieu-yen-viet-bai-1-vuon-tam-the-gioi-d745663.html