How Much Does Bird's Nest Cost per Ounce or per Pound?

Good edible bird's nest costs about $43 to $108 per ounce, or roughly $680 to $1,724 per pound, at Ten Lei Yen, a family-run bird's nest and cordyceps specialist in Westminster, California (Little Saigon) since 2007. Corner cut and small broken pieces are the lowest, at $43 and $45 per ounce; whole 5A White nest is $61 per ounce, about $980 per pound. These are our regular shelf prices, calculated from the box price.

By the Ten Lei Yen team, Westminster, CA.

How much does bird's nest cost per ounce or per pound?

Our range is $43 to $108 per ounce and about $680 to $1,724 per pound, depending on grade and on whether the nest is whole or broken. We sell by the 100 g and 250 g box, not by the pound, so every per-pound figure below is a conversion. Almost nobody buys a pound: a 250 g box is just over half a pound, and a 100 g box already lasts about a month of regular servings.

Here's the math, once: 1 oz = 28.35 g and 1 lb = 453.6 g. Divide the box price by the grams in the box, then multiply. For our 5A White 250 g box: $540 ÷ 250 g = $2.16 per gram; × 28.35 = about $61 per ounce; × 453.6 = about $980 per pound. Every figure below uses the same steps. Prices are our own regular retail prices, in US dollars, before tax and shipping.

What does broken bird's nest cost per ounce and per pound?

Broken nest is the best price per gram we sell. It's the same cleaned nest as our whole boxes, in pieces, and it cooks into the same soup.

Red Label Small Broken in white, golden or red is $400 for a 250 g box: $160 per 100 g, $45 per oz and $726 per lb. Red Label Corner Cut (nest feet), in white, is $375 for 250 g, which works out to $150 per 100 g, $43 per oz and $680 per lb.

Red Label Medium Broken in white, golden or red is $425 for 250 g, or $170 per 100 g, $48 per oz and $771 per lb. Red Label Large Broken in white, golden or red is $450 for 250 g, or $180 per 100 g, $51 per oz and $816 per lb.

In the smaller 100 g box, Red Label Small Broken in white or golden is $180 ($180 per 100 g, $51 per oz, $816 per lb), and Red Label Large Broken in white or golden is $225 ($225 per 100 g, $64 per oz, $1,021 per lb).

If you're price-conscious, buy the Red Label Small Broken white nest, 250 g. At $1.60 a gram it's one of the lowest prices per gram we sell, behind only Corner Cut at $1.50. See all grades in the bird's nest collection.

What does whole bird's nest cost per ounce and per pound?

Whole nest runs $61 to $108 per ounce, or about $980 to $1,724 per pound. 5A (AAAAA) White 250 g is the best-value whole nest we sell; Blue Label is our top tier.

5A (AAAAA) White is $260 for a 100 g (3.5 oz) box, which is $260 per 100 g, $74 per oz and $1,179 per lb. The 250 g (8.8 oz) box of 5A White is $540, or $216 per 100 g, $61 per oz and $980 per lb. 5A Golden, 250 g, is $540: $216 per 100 g, $61 per oz and $980 per lb.

Red Label Super Dried in white, golden or red is $280 for 100 g ($280 per 100 g, $79 per oz, $1,270 per lb) and $650 for 250 g ($260 per 100 g, $74 per oz, $1,179 per lb).

Blue Label Supreme White is $320 for 100 g ($320 per 100 g, $91 per oz, $1,452 per lb), and Blue Label Supreme Golden or Red is $330 for 100 g ($330 per 100 g, $94 per oz, $1,497 per lb). In the 250 g box, Blue Label Supreme White is $800 ($320 per 100 g, $91 per oz, $1,452 per lb) and Blue Label Supreme Golden or Red is $775 ($310 per 100 g, $88 per oz, $1,406 per lb).

Blue Label Timur White, 250 g, is $850 ($340 per 100 g, $96 per oz, $1,542 per lb), and Blue Label Kali White, 250 g, is $950 ($380 per 100 g, $108 per oz, $1,724 per lb).

Ready-to-drink bottles, for comparison, hold a small amount of nest in liquid, so a bottle is a treat, not a serving of dry nest. Compare them by the grams of nest stated on the label, not by the bottle price.

What does a serving of bird's nest cost?

A standard serving is 3 to 5 g of dry nest, about a third to half of one whole nest (a whole nest is 8–14 g, or 2 to 4 standard servings). It swells 3–4 times after soaking. A 250 g box holds 50 to 83 standard servings, so a serving costs the box price divided by 83 (at 3 g) or by 50 (at 5 g).

At our prices, Red Label Small Broken 250 g ($160 per 100 g) costs $4.80 for a 3 g serving and $8.00 for a 5 g serving. 5A White 250 g ($216 per 100 g) is $6.48 for 3 g and $10.80 for 5 g. Red Label Super Dried 250 g ($260 per 100 g) is $7.80 for 3 g and $13.00 for 5 g. Blue Label Supreme White 250 g ($320 per 100 g) is $9.60 for 3 g and $16.00 for 5 g, and Blue Label Kali 250 g ($380 per 100 g) is $11.40 for 3 g and $19.00 for 5 g.

Per whole nest, 5A White is about $18 and Blue Label Supreme about $33, so no single per-nest price applies. A 100 g box of 5A White, used at 3–5 g a serving, covers 20 to 33 servings.

Is edible bird's nest worth the money?

It's worth it if you value it as a cultural and culinary luxury or a gift, not as a necessity. On value alone, dry nest costs about $6.48 to $16 per standard serving (5A White to Blue Label Supreme), and every dollar goes to nest rather than liquid. We describe our nest by culinary role, origin and grading only; medical questions belong with a physician.

Here's what the price actually pays for. Hand-cleaning: nest is naturally scarce, harvested in limited quantities and cleaned almost entirely by hand, with a low finished yield, and that labor is most of what you pay for. Whole-strand grading: we grade by how clean, intact and uniform the nests are; Blue Label Supreme and Red Label Super Dried are our top tier, and 5A is our A-grade whole nest. Origin: we import our nest directly from Indonesia, so you know where the box came from and can ask the family that sold it.

It suits people who enjoy it in dessert soups and double-boiled recipes, families who serve it at holidays, and gift-givers. It doesn't suit anyone wanting a low-cost everyday staple or buying it for a medical reason. If cost matters, broken nest at $4.80 to $8 a serving is the same cleaned nest for less.

What moves the price of bird's nest?

Four things move the price: whole versus broken, grade, box size and color. Whole versus broken is the biggest lever.

Whole vs broken. Broken nest is the same cleaned nest that didn't survive cleaning or shipping in one piece, sold in large, medium or small pieces. It has the same taste and the same texture once cooked, and it's about 20–40% cheaper per gram than whole Red Label Super Dried nest. Corner cut ("nest feet," chân yến) is the dense anchor end of the nest: chewier, with the longest cooking time, and our lowest price.

Grade. Our labels describe how clean, intact and uniform the whole nests are. Blue Label Supreme and Red Label Super Dried are our top tier (S grade). 5A (AAAAA) is our A-grade whole nest: complete nests, good strands, slightly less uniform, and the best-value whole nest we sell. "5A" isn't a top grade here, whatever it means elsewhere; our grade names are our own, and the prices above are the honest ranking.

Box size. A 250 g box is up to 20% cheaper per gram than the same nest in 100 g.

Color. White, golden and red (blood) nest describe appearance, tied to the swiftlet and the environment where the nest formed, not quality. At our store they sit within $25 a box of each other.

How should you compare bird's nest prices between sellers?

Compare by price per gram of dry nest, and by grade and whole versus broken, not by box price or by the letters on the label. Divide any box price by its net dry weight in grams, then multiply by 28.35 for a per-ounce figure.

On that basis our Red Label Small Broken is $45 per ounce, our 5A whole nest $61 per ounce, and our S-grade whole nest $74–$108 per ounce. At Ten Lei Yen you can also walk into the store at 9741 Bolsa Ave, Suite 107, Westminster, CA 92683 and ask the family that has sold it since 2007.

For more, see how our grades work, how much bird's nest is a serving, how to tell real nest from fake and our comparison of dry nest vs ready-to-drink.

Visit Ten Lei Yen at 9741 Bolsa Ave, Suite 107, Westminster, or browse current prices at tenleiyen.com; sale prices and most multi-box packs are lower per gram than the single-box prices above.