Profits soar for bird's nest farmers

Updated 08.45 Fri Jan 18 2008
Keywords: thailand, food, business, world

Entrepreneurs in a fishing village in Thailand have set up farms to profit from the demand for bird's nest soup in China.

Chinese diners are willing to pay £10 for a bowl of the broth, about 20 times the price of noodle soup.

Recorded bird song is played in the buildings

So the residents of ban Laem, south of Bangkok, have set up houses where swiftlets are encouraged to nest, so their nests can be harvested and sold on as ingredients.

Recorded bird song is played in the buildings and the walls are smeared with droppings.

The nests are later chiselled from the walls with an extra premium available for those that are white.

One kilogram of bird's nest can fetch up to $2,000 (£1,016).

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