Palm Civets

Paradoxurus hermaphroditus

Kopi Luwak coffee is the world’s most expensive coffee. The price varies due to availability, but often settles around $100-$500 per pound. Also known as Civet Coffee, Kopi Luwak was discovered by plantation workers in colonised Indonesia. The workers were banned from consuming coffee beans from the plants, so instead picked, cleaned and roasted the beans excreted by wild Asian Palm Civets. The Civet’s digestive system gives the Kopi Luwak a uniquely rich aroma and a smooth, rounded flavour. The traditional method of collecting faeces from civets has been replaced with intensive farming methods in which civets in battery cages are force fed coffee beans. They endure horrible living conditions and an unhealthy diet, leaving them suffering from mental distress and demonstrating behaviour such as pacing and gnawing on their own limbs. Civets are nocturnal, and native to tropical Asia and Africa.