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.
Dr Christopher Lim, a nephrologist who has succeeded as a part-time swiftlet farmer and has authored a how-to book on the subject, says there are about 22,000 swiftlet farms (also known as swiftlet hotels, swiftlet houses or birdhouses) in Malaysia. He estimates that there are 200 new ones every month.
The list of towns that have become known for this activity is lengthening. There are such places in just about every state. What these towns usually have in common are proximity to agricultural and forest land, and relatively low levels of industrial activity.
The first element is important because farms, plantations and jungles support the swiftlets’ diet of flying insects. The lack of factories in the vicinity matters because air pollution is anathema to the birds.
You can find many swiftlet farms in Perak (in Sitiawan, Ipoh, Teluk Intan and Taiping, for example), Pahang (Kuantan, Rompin, Pekan), Kelantan (Kota Baru, Tumpat), Terengganu (Kuala Terengganu, Kuala Besut) and Kedah (Sungai Petani).
The key attraction here is the lure of lucrative returns from a passive investment. The idea is simple – put up a well-designed and well-equipped swiftlet farm at the right spot, and the rest will fall in place. The birds will come and soon, you can keep harvesting their nests for many years.
“It’s a gold mine,” says Mohammad Azimullah, manager of Swiftlets Venture International (SVI), a consultancy outfit.
“You put in RM500,000 and if your location is good, you can net RM1mil a year within four years. Where else in the world can you find such a business?”
Kelvin Heng of Pearlnest, which does trading and consulting work, is convinced that swiftlet farming is currently the best investment opportunity in Malaysia.
He explains: “You invest only once. You don’t have to come out with money every month to pay maintenance and workers’ salaries. If the farm is successful, you can collect thousands of ringgit every month.”
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