The second and third phase birds nest is not as good comparing with the first phase’ birds nest in terms of quality and quantity. During these seasons, the swiftlet is weak due to unfavourable weather and lean food supply. Saliva secretion is slow and lots of feathers fall off, thus increase impurities. The bird’s nest is usually smaller in size and has lesser expandability.

IBNI has its own birds nest farmhouses and processing plants in Indonesia. Some time before every Chinese Lunar New Year, IBNI ships fresh ‘first phase’ bird’s nests to Hong Kong through air cargo.  This guarantees sufficient supply of ‘first phase’ bird’s nests in the market all the year round.

Chinese have the culture of consuming bird’s nests traced back to Tang Dynasty, 1,400 years ago. It was told that Empress Wu Zetian used to rely on taking bird’s nest to resist ageing. Since then, bird’s nest had been frequently found on the upper class diet. During Ming Dynasty, it was officially included in the imperial menu. In those days, premium grade bird’s nest was among the articles of tribute presented by adjacent Southeast Asian countries to the emperor of China. It was commonly known as “Imperial Bird’s Nest”.