Khanh Hoa bird nest

The industry

Edible nest swiftlets build their nests from hardened strands of their own saliva on the walls and ceilings of sea caves, and the nests are harvested by climbers using bamboo scaffolding^[1]. Khanh Hoa is the country's largest source of the natural, cave harvested product, as against nests farmed in house built structures elsewhere in Vietnam^[2]. By 2025 the provincial state company managed 33 islands and 173 caves^[2], and its products reached 30 countries and territories^[2][4].

History since the Nguyen lords

Local historical accounts trace the trade to 1328, when the Trần dynasty naval commander Lê Văn Đạt, driven to Hòn Tre island by a storm during a southern expedition, discovered nesting islands in the Bình Khang area, the historic name for the region that became Khánh Hòa, and organised forces to protect and exploit them; he is venerated as the founder of the trade^[5]. The same account calls the scholar Dương Văn An's 1555 work Ô Châu cận lục perhaps the earliest written record of the resource^[5]; that work is a survey of Ô Châu, the region well to the north of Khánh Hòa, so it cannot be assumed to describe the nesting islands treated here.

The trade grew into a strategic export under the Nguyễn lords, alongside agarwood and elephant ivory^[5]. Lê Văn Quang, born in 1719 and a descendant of Lê Văn Đạt, managed the nesting islands of Bình Khang, and his daughter Lê Thị Huyền Trâm, born in 1753, commanded naval forces guarding the islands during the Tây Sơn period and organised the harvest and export of nests to help finance the state; both died on 10 May 1793 defending the territorial waters and the nesting islands, and are venerated as protective deities^[5].

The company

Công ty Yến sào Khánh Hòa was established on 9 November 1990 under provincial Decision 1352/QĐ-UB, as the sole body authorised to manage, harvest and conserve the natural bird's nest islands of the province^[1]. In May 2013 the provincial People's Committee decided the company would be the only entity permitted to use the geographical indication "Khánh Hòa", together with the names of the province's districts, towns and cities, on bird's nest products, with documentation to be filed with the National Office of Intellectual Property^[6]. By early 2026, 35 years after its founding, the company operated 7 factories and over 60 product lines under the Yến sào Khánh Hòa, Sanest and Sanvinest brands, and had reported total revenue of nearly 12,993 billion VND for the period 2021 to 2025^[3][4]. For 2025 alone, revenue rose 19 percent, pre-tax profit 11 percent and the company's contribution to the state budget 15 percent, compared with 2024^[4].

Conservation science

Since 2004 the company has used artificial incubation for swiftlet eggs, achieving a hatch rate of about 89 percent under controlled biological and environmental conditions; young birds are reared before being transported back to the islands to join the wild population, of which about 81.5 percent go on to remain there^[3]. The company has recorded and adopted 1,820 technical improvements and initiatives since 2015, including 40 in 2025 alone, covering island harvesting, processing, food safety and energy use^[3].

Recognition

On 10 December 2024 the knowledge of harvesting and processing Khanh Hoa bird's nest was recognised as national intangible cultural heritage^[2]. The Asia Record Organization has separately honoured the company as the operator managing the greatest number of swiftlet islands and caves and the largest natural island nest output in Asia, and has recognised Khanh Hoa bird's nest itself as an Asian record in the specialty gift category, one of four Vietnamese specialties established in 2022^[2][7]. Bird's nest was not part of the set of ten new Asian records announced in December 2023, whose certificates were presented on 6 January 2024 and whose five Vietnamese dishes included nem nướng Ninh Hòa; the province holds one Asian record of each kind, for nem nướng Ninh Hòa and for yến sào^[7].