Local Bird’s Nest Industry Eyes 30 Mil-Strong Halal Market

GEORGE TOWN – Malaysia’s bird’s nest industry is targeting 30 million Muslims in China and the Middle East to market their halal products.

Koperasi Penternak Burung Walit Malaysia Bhd chairman Datuk Ng Siew Lai said the farmers are positive about their target market and eager to pursue it.

“The halal market is huge and now it is on us to make it a reality. We will focus on research and development to create more downstream products.”

Ng said the cooperative held its annual general meeting last Sunday at a hotel here, which was followed by the launch of the two new products by the cooperative.

One of them is the Kowalit Sarang Mas, and the other is the Cheetah energy drink, which has bird’s nest extracts. Also in attendance was Cooperative Commission of Malaysia state director Zakaria Mat Jusoh.

The cooperative also signed a memorandum of understanding with Glycofood Marketing Sdn Bhd to market its products.

“China media had recently reported that Malaysia had increased its bird’s nest export to China. Records show that our export of cleaned bird’s nests was 23.4 tonnes in the first quarter to China that brought a revenue of RM150 million,” Ng said.

Swiftlet nest farming is a profitable venture in Malaysia, with more than 40,000 farmers in the country exporting about 700 tonnes yearly.

The industry chalked up an estimated income of about RM1.5 billion last year, with China being its top importer.

Export value for the commodity was RM1.3 billion in 2018 and RM 1.1 billion in 2019.

Malaysia also exports to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Laos, South Korea and the US, and plans are in place to export to other countries. To this, Ng hopes the government allows industry players to travel overseas to boost sales.

Source: Arulldas Sinnappan, The Vibes