As of December 13, 2019, the price per gram of bird's nest ranges from $50 to $100, or from $2,500 to $5,000 a pound.

The following factors mainly affect the price change of bird's nest:

1. Origin of bird's nest

Today, there are these main origins of bird's nest produced in Southeast Asian countries or regions: Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore.

At present, bird's nests in the market mainly come from Indonesia, Malay and Thailand. Indonesian bird's nest production accounts for 80% of the world's total bird's nest production and is relatively affordable, while Thai bird's nest is more expensive due to its low production, and there are many fakes in the market.

2. Types of Bird's Nest

Bird's nest can be categorized into three types: Kwan Yin, Hairy Bird's Nest and Grass Bird's Nest.

Official Bird's Nest: Bird's Nest has become one of the tributes that belonged to the state to the court during the Ming Dynasty. Since bird's nest is also a valuable gift to the government, it is called 〖official bird's nest〗. Official Bird's Nest is lubricated and tender, with a rich flavor and aroma. The White Bird's Nest on the market is also a kind of Official Bird's Nest.

Hairy Bird's Nest: Hairy Bird's Nest mainly refers to the Gray Loin Bird's Nest. Hairy Bird's Nest likes to use its own saliva and feathers to build nests, so the bird's nests contain more bird's hairs and the nests are darker in color and have more impurities.

Grass Swallows: Grass Swallows are wild swallows that like to build their nests with their own saliva. Therefore, the nests of Grass Birdnests are mixed with a lot of grass clippings, and their appearance is covered with grass crumbs. Grass Swallows are relatively inexpensive and most of the ready-to-eat bird's nests in the market are made from it.

3. The shape and integrity of the bird's nest

After picking the bird's nests, the shape of the bird's nests may be damaged during transportation, and the bird's nests may also be damaged during the artificial processing of picking the hairs, so it is important to keep the bird's nests as clean and intact as possible.

The price of a beautifully shaped bird's nest is 50% higher than that of an ordinary bird's nest. (PS: A beautifully shaped bird's nest should have the following conditions: thick flesh, small corners, high density, fewer feet, weighing about 7-8 grams, no added paint, and high cleanliness).

Bird's nests are priced according to the shape of the bird's nests, from highest to lowest: Marigolds → Bird's nests bars → Bird's nest corners → Bird's nest cakes → Bird's nest threads → Bird's nest minced.

5. Water Content of Bird's Nest

When the water content is too high, the bird's nest is easy to get moldy, which also affects the shelf life and raises the price of bird's nest; when the water content is too low, the bird's nest is easy to break. Therefore, the water content in bird's nests is not only related to the quality of bird's nests, but also related to the fairness to consumers. According to the standards of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, the water content of bird's nest should be controlled below 15%.

6. Bird's Nest Harvesting Season

There are two types of bird's nest harvesting seasons: rainy season and dry season.

Rainy season: The rainy season is humid and the insects grow and reproduce rapidly, and it also coincides with the northeast monsoon season, when the strong winds encourage the insects to concentrate in the forests, making it easier for the swallows to forage for food, and the food is more plentiful. During this period, the salivary system of swiftlets is active and the nests they build are relatively full and thick. In addition, the swiftlets have just passed the moulting period. Therefore, during the rainy season, swiftlet nests are cleaner, with fewer hairs and impurities.

Dry Season: During the dry season, there is a lack of rainfall, the humidity drops, the trees die easily, and the number of insects decreases, so the swiftlets, which mainly feed on insects, are not able to get enough nutrients and have an inactive salivary system, so the nests they build are thinner. The dry season coincides with the hair replacement period of swiftlets, therefore, there are more hairs and impurities in the nests during the dry season.

Overall, dry season bird's nests are dry and have more impurities. During the rainy season, the bird's nests are fuller in shape with less impurities. Therefore, rainy season bird's nests are the best quality bird's nests throughout the year.

Expanded Information:

Bird's nests in the rainy season are the best in quality throughout the year. p>Buy bird's nest online need to pay attention to the place:

1, online shopping should be compared to three, the purchase of invoices

In order to buy peace of mind, consumers are best able to go to the store to confirm that the type of products purchased, to understand the relevant information, in the choice of online home appliance sellers, be sure to Choose the brand designated dealer, professional home appliance website certified dealers or traditional online shopping malls, "comparison shopping", choose the perfect after-sales service network malls.

In the payment of caution, the best choice of third-party payment or cash on delivery, the purchase must remember to ask for an invoice.

2, after receiving the goods to face acceptance and then sign

Goods inspection seems to be a small link, but must be careful. When checking the goods first look at the outer packaging is intact, in addition to the business will generally be placed in the package with the goods list, to confirm that the goods list and the physical match. Next, check whether the invoices, certificates, credit cards and so on are all available in the package.

3. Bird's nest can only be consumed after verification

Shoddy bird's nests can cause harm to the human body, so it is important to verify that the bird's nests are genuine before consuming them.

Methods to verify the authenticity of the bird's nest include:

One look at the center of the bird's nest is the filamentous structure of the bird's nest. The middle of the bird's nest is a filamentous structure, and the corner part of the bird's nest is a flaky structure; pure bird's nest is not completely transparent but translucent no matter when it is soaked or viewed under the light. The color of the bird's nest, the shape of the bird's nest, and the presence of tiny feathers after soaking.

The second touch. Take a small piece of bird's nest to soak in water, soften it and then take the silk strip and pull it, the elasticity is poor, a pull on the break for the fake; rub with your fingers, there is no elasticity that can be rubbed into a paste-like is also a fake. But completely hair open after no elasticity, if there is still very good elasticity that is false.

Three burns. With the fire ignited dry bird's nest pieces, there are splash sparks, which is the result of protein combustion, the ash is black, not online misleading white ash. Bird's nest has a unique fragrance, but no strong odor. The special smell, fishy or greasy flavor is fake.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Bird's Nest

People's Daily Online - Buy Bird's Nest Online? How to buy the real thing

China Economic Net - Bird's nest market picks up, retail price rises 10% year-on-year, legal traceability of bird's nests still less than 10%