Civet Cat Coffee: The Animal Cruelty Behind Kopi Luwak

Civet coffee, also called kopi luwak, is made from coffee beans that an Asian palm civet has digested and excreted. A 2013 BBC investigation found civets in cramped cages in Sumatra, and World Animal Protection says civets for the trade are “forced to live in small, bare cages.” A study published online in 2023 found that no civet it examined at coffee tourism plantations in Bali met all of the five freedoms for animal welfare.

What Is Kopi Luwak?

Kopi luwak, also known as civet coffee, is described by Britannica as “the coffee bean or specialty coffee that is digested by, fermented within, and then excreted by the Asian palm civet.” Britannica adds that the animal is “popularly called a luwak in Indonesia but found throughout South and Southeast Asia.”

Britannica says farmers in Indonesia discovered and collected the beans in the 19th century, during the colonial period, “when the Dutch forbade local workers from harvesting their own coffee.”

What Is A Civet?

The BBC’s headline on its 2013 investigation says “civet cat,” but Britannica places civets in the viverrid family, which it defines as “any of 35 species of small Old World mammals including civets, genets, and linsangs.” The BBC describes Indonesian palm civets as “small, mongoose-like creatures,” and World Animal Protection calls civets “small, nocturnal mammals, native to tropical Asia and Africa.” Britannica says that among viverrids, “Some, such as palm civets, eat mostly fruit.”

How Kopi Luwak Is Made

Britannica describes the steps after the civet excretes the beans: “Collectors gather the civet excretion, remove the beans, wash them well, and then air-dry them.” After that, in Britannica’s words, “Once the thin outer skin on the beans is removed, they are sorted and stored for roasting.”

The beans can reach a collector in two ways. World Animal Protection says wild-sourced coffee “allows wild civets to live in their natural habitat, and means rural communities can generate a small income by collecting and selling the coffee beans excreted by civets.” The other way is the one the BBC reported: its undercover reporters “witnessed civets held in battery-cage conditions to produce the coffee.”

What Investigators Found

BBC, 2013

The BBC’s 2013 report is one of the undercover investigations into kopi luwak farms. Posing as buyers, BBC reporters visited farmers in Sumatra, Indonesia, and “witnessed battery-style conditions, animals in cramped cages and a severely injured civet cat.” The report was published on 13 September 2013.

After viewing the secretly recorded footage, Dr Neil D’Cruze, of the World Society for the Protection of Animals, said the civets appeared “absolutely depressed and miserable.” He added, “The cages are completely barren, they’re filthy, there’s nowhere to climb.”

World Animal Protection

World Animal Protection says on its civet coffee campaign page that civets “are being captured using box traps, snares and hunting dogs. These methods frequently cause injuries.” The group says that after the civets are sold, they “are forced to live in small, bare cages, often without enough shelter or bedding. Many show signs of great stress.” The group describes those signs as pacing or harming themselves. It adds that “many animals die early or show signs of injuries.”

Oxford Brookes University and partners, 2023

A team from the Oxford Wildlife Trade Research Group at Oxford Brookes University, with colleagues at Hartpury University, the Little Fireface Project, and Universitas Gadjah Mada, published a study online in October 2023 in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. It looked at tourist outlets in Bali that “keep caged civets for public viewing and sell civet coffee.”

The authors assessed civet welfare in 29 civet coffee tourism plantations. They found 99 civets in the plantations and 136 in the eight wildlife markets they also assessed, and they write that “Annually between 400 and 800 civets are sold.” They report that “Welfare standards do not meet the Indonesian laws and regulations” and that “no civet met all of the five freedoms.”

What Coffee Drinkers Can Do

As ethical consumers, we are responsible for challenging exploitative practices. Our consumer choices directly impact the demand that indirectly fuels the unethical treatment of civets. Bringing about change requires informed decisions and discussions surrounding the actual cost of our cup of coffee.

World Animal Protection says “Wild-sourced, cage-free coffee is the only humane option.” It asked retailers in Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK to “investigate their supply chains and stop selling civet coffee if they could not guarantee it was wild-sourced,” and it says at least 13 retailers “took civet coffee off their shelves or agreed to investigate.”

Britannica notes “animal-rights concerns about the trapping and treatment of captive civets and the impact of that luxury market on the civet population worldwide.” Lachenmeier and Schwarz, writing in the journal Foods in 2021, conclude that “In the context of animal protection, the trend of digested coffees such as Kopi Luwak produced by civet cats in captivity should not be endorsed.” The authors of the 2023 Bali study write that tourists at civet coffee plantations “should be made aware of the low welfare standards to inform their choice about supporting this industry.”

Choosing a coffee that does not involve civets at all is one of the viable alternatives to caged civet coffee. A campaign named “Kopi Luwak: Cut the Crap” also covers this subject.

Our buying habits matter. Choosing ethically sourced coffee over Kopi Luwak can send a powerful message against inhumane practices towards animals used for our gustatory pleasure. Our discretion as consumers lies in dictating what products deserve our patronage.

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FAQ

Does civet coffee taste better than other coffee?

Britannica says “Fans of kopi luwak think the unusual fermentation process refines the beans’ flavour” and that “Some critics call kopi luwak the worst-tasting coffee in the world and trace the hype surrounding it exclusively to the novelty of its origins and exorbitant price.” Lachenmeier and Schwarz offer another explanation for the differences researchers have found: “As wild civets may prefer Coffea liberica beans, due to their higher sugar content, the chemical differences may be caused by the Coffea species difference combined with a careful selection of ripe, defect-free cherries by the animals, rather than changes caused by digestion.”

Why is kopi luwak so expensive?

Britannica says “Kopi luwak is frequently called the rarest and most-expensive gourmet coffee in the world.” The BBC reported in 2013 that “In restaurants its price can reach £60 per cup, with claims of wild origin attracting the premium.” Tony Wild, a former coffee trader and the author of Coffee: A Dark History, told the BBC, “The whole reason everybody regurgitates that story is that by being incredibly rare, you can keep a ridiculously high price.”

Can a wild label on kopi luwak be trusted?

The BBC reported in 2013 that “Many retailers sell the product as ‘wild’, sourced in the jungle from the droppings of free-roaming animals.” Tony Wild told the BBC he is “totally convinced” caged produce ends up being sold in London, and he believes marketing it as wild is often misleading. A vice president of the Indonesian exporter Sari Makmur told the undercover reporters, “Frankly speaking, we are not keen on selling this Wild Luwak, as we cannot control it.” The company later told the BBC that “We do not sell any of the coffee beans from the caged luwak as it is against our business model,” and the BBC says the company’s Wahana estate is unconnected to the farms where its reporters saw cruelty. Britannica adds that the expensive trade “has inspired counterfeiters to pawn off cheap inferior coffee beans as authentic kopi luwak.”

Sources

• Britannica. “Kopi luwak.” britannica.com (archived copy: web.archive.org).
• Britannica. “Viverrid.” britannica.com (archived copy: web.archive.org).
• BBC News. “Civet cat coffee’s animal cruelty secrets.” Guy Lynn and Chris Rogers, 13 September 2013. bbc.com.
• World Animal Protection. “Civet Coffee” campaign page. worldanimalprotection.org.
• Lewis-Whelan, B. et al. “Welfare and Management of Civets in Civet Coffee Tourism Plantations.” Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 2024;27(3):561-574 (online October 2023, abstract). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
• Lachenmeier, D. W. and Schwarz, S. “Digested Civet Coffee Beans (Kopi Luwak)-An Unfortunate Trend in Specialty Coffee Caused by Mislabeling of Coffea liberica?” Foods, 2021;10(6):1329 (abstract). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.