“organic” diet to tease the prized collagen-rich mucus from the molluscs, which to some cosmetic firms are now more valuable than gold.
“Farmers used to throw them on the road or in the rivers,” Phatinisiri told AFP. “But now they sell them to me to earn extra money.”It is one of more than 80 farms in Nakhon Nayok province, two hours from the capital Bangkok, cashing in on the global snail beauty market, estimated at $314m, according to research group Coherent Market Insights.
Its raw form is sold to Aden International, a Thai-based cosmetics company that primarily ships its products to Korea and the US. And his bet paid off — Kitpong sells the serum under the Acha brand, but also supplies Korean and American cosmetic companies with a dried powder at 1.8 million baht per kilogram, he said.Compared to Aden’s snail slime, the mucus produced in China — milked daily instead of once every three weeks in Thailand — is valued at about 80,000 baht per kilogram, Kitpong said.
Nice one. Snail farming has so many benefits to our economy!