Choosing Bird's Nest as a Gift: Which Type, How Many Grams, What Price?

The most important question is whether the recipient has time to prepare the nest. Dried bird's nest is graded by how much it has been cleaned: raw nest still has feathers, feather-removed nest has had the feathers picked out but keeps the shape of the nest, and refined nest has been cleaned and reshaped (see the article on types of bird's nest for details).

• Recipient is busy or elderly and rarely prepares nest themselves: choose refined Grade 1 (about 70% strands) or Grade 2 (about 50% strands); it only needs soaking and double-boiling.
• You want a gift that clearly shows the natural shape of the nest: choose dried feather-removed bird's nest, with about 95% of the feathers removed; the 100g box contains 20 nest pieces.
• Recipient is used to preparing nest and likes to pick out the feathers: raw bird's nest (include the article how to clean raw bird's nest so the recipient can follow it).
• A household that uses nest regularly and does not need the nest shape: loofah-style strands, feet + loofah-style strands or bird's nest feet.

Yến Sào Uyên Nguyên's view: for gifts, refined reshaped nest and feather-removed nest suit better than raw nest because they keep the nest shape, look more formal and save the recipient the work of cleaning. All of the store's products are house-farmed nest from Khánh Hòa, Phan Thiết and Vũng Tàu, sold dried for you to double-boil yourself; the store does not sell ready-made double-boiled nest.

There is no rule about the weight of a gift; choose by the relationship and your budget. Common groupings:

• Small boxes of 10g, 20g, 30g: thank-you gifts, gifts that come with a card, gifts for many people at once, or a trial for the recipient (refined Grade 2 small boxes).
• 50g box: visit gifts, gifts for teachers and colleagues.
• 100g box: gifts for parents, grandparents, your boss or partners, for Tết or a longevity celebration.

To help the recipient picture how much nest is used each time: Yến Sào Uyên Nguyên advises double-boiling 8g of nest with 250ml of water per serving (see the article how to double-boil bird's nest).

The table below sorts the boxes sold at Yến Sào Uyên Nguyên by budget for one gift. Prices are taken from the product pages on 8 November 2026, VAT included, and each box comes with red dates and rock sugar at no extra charge. Prices in the table do not include a gift box: if a retail customer wants a red gift box with a carrier bag for gifting, add 100,000 ₫ per box.

For a general reference: the newspaper Tuổi Trẻ (opens in a new tab) (April 2022) quoted an industry expert saying that about 3.3 million dong per 100g is the minimum price at which you can find genuine refined bird's nest, while nest priced at only a few hundred thousand dong, or under 1 million dong per 100g, is often nest soaked in sugar or tragacanth gum, or fake nest. Small boxes are cheap because they hold few grams, so always convert the price to 100g before comparing.

Gifting parents, grandparents and elderly people

Prefer cleaned nest so the recipient does not have to sit and pick out feathers. If an elderly relative lives far away, send along instructions for double-boiling (for example, print the article how to double-boil bird's nest) and tell them where to store the box. If the recipient is on a diet prescribed by a doctor, it is best to ask before gifting.

Gifts for teachers (20 November, end of the school year)

A small 20g or 30g box, or a 50g box, is formal enough without being too heavy in value. Parents should check the school's rules on gifts. If the recipient holds a position or authority, clause 2 of Article 22 of the 2018 Law on Anti-Corruption does not allow them to accept gifts from people connected with work they handle or within their area of management (full text of clause 2, Article 22 (opens in a new tab)).

Gifting your boss or partners

A 100g box of refined Grade 1 or feather-removed bird's nest usually suits a formal gift. Give Tết gifts before the holiday: Tết Nguyên Đán Đinh Mùi 2027 has the first day of Tết on Saturday 6 February 2027, and civil servants are off from 4 to 10 February 2027 (CafeF (opens in a new tab)). Companies ordering 10 gift sets or more can see the corporate gifts page or Tết gifts by budget.

• A nest box with a clear lid or one that opens so you can see the strands, and a label showing the product name, weight, producer's name and address, and expiry date.
• Items to double-boil right away: every nest box from Yến Sào Uyên Nguyên comes with red dates and rock sugar at no extra charge.
• An outer box to hand over. A retail customer at Yến Sào Uyên Nguyên who wants a red gift box with a carrier bag for gifting can add the gift box with carrier bag for 100,000 ₫ per box.
• For corporate gift orders of 10 sets or more, Yến Sào Uyên Nguyên gives a red gift box printed with its brand, lined with golden silk and with a carrier bag, plus a free card printed with your company name, logo and a greeting of your choice. The box keeps the Uyên Nguyên brand by default; printing your company logo on the box is quoted separately.
• A handwritten card or message (samples in the section below).

If you want to combine nest with sweets, nuts and a card in a gift box with your company logo, you can try the gift box design tool to see an estimated price per set before asking for a quote.

Pre-packed gifts are where substandard goods are easily slipped in. Ms. Phạm Khánh Phong Lan, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety, said that pre-packed Tết gift baskets are prone to containing expired or counterfeit goods (Pháp Luật TP.HCM (opens in a new tab), January 2025). The newspaper Dân Trí (opens in a new tab) (February 2026) also reported many gift baskets with expired products and no printed expiry date. A checklist before you buy:

1. 1Step 1: A clearly printed, complete label: product name, ingredients, production date, expiry date and producer information; beware of spelling errors and unfamiliar logos (SGGP (opens in a new tab)).
2. 2Step 2: The weight of nest is shown on the nest box itself, not only on the outer box. A big outer box does not mean more nest.
3. 3Step 3: You can open the box and see the strands: genuine nest is cloudy white, slightly yellowish, and its strands are not perfectly even; for detailed signs see the article telling genuine from fake bird's nest.
4. 4Step 4: The price is not unusually cheap when converted to 100g (SGGP (opens in a new tab) advises never chasing cheap prices).
5. 5Step 5: The seller has a store and a clear address; beware of sellers who hide their address and only take orders by message (SGGP (opens in a new tab)). Also look up the company's tax code and ask for its food safety certificate.
6. 6Step 6: You are allowed to open and inspect the goods on delivery, and to have them exchanged if they are wrong, missing or damaged.

At Yến Sào Uyên Nguyên, you may open and inspect the product on delivery (inspection policy) and get a free exchange if the goods are wrong, missing or damaged on receipt (exchange policy). The processing facility at 53 Trần Nguyên Đán holds food safety certificate no. 6478/2026/SATTP-HCM; see photos of the documents on the Certificates page.

• How to read the date: under Decree 43/2017/NĐ-CP on product labelling, the expiry date is written in the order day, month, year (Gregorian calendar), with the words “hạn sử dụng” or the abbreviations “HSD” or “HD” (LuatVietnam (opens in a new tab)). “EXP” (expiry date) on an English label also means the expiry date.
• Repackaged goods: if nest is divided and repackaged into a gift box, the label must show the repackaging date and an expiry date counted from the production date on the original label (LuatVietnam (opens in a new tab)). A self-assembled gift box should keep the original label of each nest box inside.
• Do not stick a card, ribbon or wrapping paper over the production date or expiry date.
• General tip when buying early for Tết: choose boxes with a long remaining shelf life and keep them somewhere dry and cool, away from sunlight, until the day you hand them over.

Dried nest boxes from Yến Sào Uyên Nguyên contain a moisture-absorbing packet and are printed with a 24-month expiry date; this date applies to dried nest that has not been double-boiled. For how to store nest after the recipient opens the box, see the article storing bird's nest.

A short message with the giver's name and the reason for the gift is enough. Let the card carry good wishes; do not write it as if promising that bird's nest cures any illness. A few samples you can adapt:

• For parents: “I am sending you a box of bird's nest so you can double-boil it little by little. Wishing you always joy and good health. [Name].”
• For grandparents and elders: “Respectfully offering you a small gift for [Tết/your longevity celebration]. Wishing you peace and happiness among your children and grandchildren.”
• For teachers: “Thank you for your devoted teaching this school year. Wishing you much joy.”
• For your boss or partners: “Thank you for working alongside us this past year. Respectfully wishing you and your family a peaceful and prosperous new year.”

More greetings to print on cards for corporate Tết gifts are in the article Tết gifts for business partners.

Yến Sào Uyên Nguyên has a store at 53 Trần Nguyên Đán, Phường Tân Định, TP. Hồ Chí Minh, open 8:00–21:30 daily (see the map); you can come and look at the nest boxes in person before choosing a gift. For delivery: inner-city Ho Chi Minh City takes 1–2 days and is free; delivery to other provinces is charged per order, and the fee is quoted before the order is confirmed. Payment is on delivery or by bank transfer; an e-invoice with VAT is issued as soon as the goods are delivered.

For bulk company gift orders: from 10 sets, contact us for a quote based on quantity; an order of about 100 sets takes 3–5 days to prepare and deliver (corporate gifts). Hotline, Zalo: 0901 312 279.