If the concept of drinking civet cat coffee, which is made out of feces from the Asian palm civet, is a turn-off, there could also be yet one more reason to rethink the drink.
This week, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) issued a warning geared toward tourists in Bali after an investigator showed undercover footage of how the civet cat excrement, containing partially digested coffee beans, is obtained.
The video showed the animals confined to cages encrusted with feces, dirt and decomposing coffee berries, many with open wounds, based on PETA. The footage was obtained through undercover work conducted by PETA investigators at a farm in Catur, Bali, said the organization’s Senior Vice President Jason Baker.
“Tour guides in Bali often mislead tourists by claiming that kopi luwak is obtained from the feces of untamed civet cats,” he said, referencing the coffee’s name in Bahasa Indonesia. “Nevertheless, the truth is that the majority of this coffee is the product of keeping these animals captive in cruel conditions on farms.”
The finding is just not the primary of its kind, based on PETA. A previous investigation in 2022 also found Asian palm civets held in captivity, during which they were fed a gentle food regimen of coffee berries, based on the organization. Coffee berries are the fruit of the coffee plant. Normally coffee is made out of the seeds, or beans, of this fruit.
Within the wild, Asian palm civets, which aren’t members of the cat family, eat quite a lot of fruit, comparable to mango, chiku and rambutan, in addition to insects and small mammals.
Baker highlights that the problem extends beyond Bali, persisting throughout Indonesia and other countries that serve the coffee.
“It’s inconceivable to generate the quantities needed for export without caging civet cats,” he said. “Despite global attention and condemnation, the inhumane treatment of those living, feeling beings persists within the industry.”
There’s much to enjoy about coffee in Indonesia, Baker said. “However the confinement, suffering, and sadness endured by civet cats for kopi luwak aren’t amongst them. Tourists be warned: avoid civet coffee.”
Why people drink it
Paradoxically, the shock value of the coffee’s source is why many tourists decide to try it.
Plus, “there is a misconception that civet coffee … has a singular taste, and this is commonly perpetuated by businesses to draw consumers and justify higher prices for his or her products,” Baker said.
A young civet cat in a cage in Bali.
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The fee of the coffee also attracts attention. Prices can range from $45 to $600 per pound, said Baker, which is why it has been called probably the most expensive coffees on the planet.
The animals, that are nocturnal mammals native to South and Southeast Asia, are under threat in Indonesia — increased production of kopi luwak has boosted the illegal wildlife trade, based on the non-profit organization Wildlife Alliance.
