Coffland Corp: Kopi Luwak: The Most Expensive Coffee

The world’s most expensive coffee is made from poop.

The most expensive coffee is made out of poop. You may find it disturbing and even funny, but apparently, its unusual method of preparation is what makes it so pricey. It is known as Kopi Luwak, and it comes from Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. A cup of this coffee can cost up to $100 in the United States. However, the way is produced, represents a challenge to fair trade providers and wildlife protectors. Keep reading to learn why!

Its producers serve coffee cherries to a specific Indonesian animal called palm civet, luwak or also civet cat. Then the creature digests them leaving perfectly shaped coffee beans in its feces. The civet cat loves the ripest coffee cherries and naturally chooses which of them to eat while leaving the vast majority of presumably inferior cherries uneaten.

Animal cruelty

The flavor of this coffee is high quality and unique, because the civet cat’s digestive enzymes change the structure of the proteins in coffee beans, taking away any acidity. As a result, you obtain a smoother and sweet drink.

Nevertheless, the luwaks play an essential role in the food chain as any other being. They eat insects, small reptiles, and fruits like coffee cherries and bananas. Keeping them in captivity to produce Kopi Luwak is considered animal cruelty. If it does not have an official certified by WSPA, Rainforest Alliance or UTZ certificate, coffee beans are not floor-collected by hands of local farmers, and civet cats do not live in the wild, this is just not worth it!

When it comes to fair trade policies

At Coffland Corp, we want people, especially business owners in the coffee industry, to choose providers with fair trade policies. These guarantees a proper treatment, not only to farmers but the environment, so we can protect the biodiversity thanks to which we obtain these products.

When choosing your coffee label, think about the new generation of customers that are more conscious of what they purchase, and of course, about the environment. Although the demand for Kopi Luwak is increasing, that promotes luwaks confinement.

The saddest part? They do not select the ripest coffee cherries while they are in cages. They just merely eat to satisfy their hunger. The consequences of these cruel treatments are a health problem. Civets in these conditions tend to fight among themselves, gnaw on their legs, and frequently die quickly. If what you want is a luxury item, they should not be in cages, because when civet cats (luwaks) are forced to eat all kinds of cherries, beans in their feces are an inferior product.

Whether it's right to buy it or not if certified correctly, there is still a discussion among everyone involved in this industry and environmental organizations around countries’ policies and legislation. This is because an undercover investigation led by the BBC revealed in 2013 how coffee from caged civets in terrible conditions ended up labeled as wild civet coffee in Europe. And there are many similar cases in other continents.

Our exclusive Colombian coffee, on the other hand, is qualified as fair-trade, which means that you do not have to worry about the transparency of its production. In Coffland Corp, we love working to ensure environmentally responsible farming. Contact us to know more about our services!