A Vietnamese company has been acknowledged to boast the most natural salangane islands and the highest yields of salangane nests in Asia.

On Sunday, Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest Co. received the certificate for those achievements from the Asia Book of Records, a New Delhi-based record organization.

Based in Nha Trang, the capital of the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, the company currently manages 32 salangane islands, which are home to 169 natural caves, within the Khanh Hoa waters.

It also jointly runs several such islands in the waters spanning from the north-central province of Quang Binh to Con Dao off Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, some 100 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City.

Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest Co. earned VND3.9 trillion (US$181.75 million) in revenue last year, and harvested almost four metric tons of nests produced by salanganes inhabiting natural islands.

The company’s products have been exported to 21 countries around the world.

Salanganes, or swallows, typically build their nests with their saliva on precarious ledges, making nest harvesting a perilous job.   The birds can now be raised indoors.

Processed, de-plumed salangane nests fetch exorbitant prices, up to VND40 million ($1,864) or more per kilogram, on the local market.

Around 100 pairs of salanganes can produce approximately one kilogram of nests over three months, according to salangane farmers.

Salangane nests, which are usually steamed with “duong phen” (sugar candy) or prepared as a soup, have long been considered a highly nutritious, tasty delicacy which was served exclusively to the royalty and the affluent in countries like China, South Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

The dish and the industrially prepared beverage form of the nest are widely believed to help improve facial complexion and general well-being as well as provide rich nutrients for sick people, pregnant women, and the elderly.

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