You must have heard of weasel coffee, Kopi Lwak or civet coffee, being labeled as delicacy. The most expensive luxury coffee in the world!
But why? What is all the hype? Better yet what exactly is it?!
Civets are force fed coffee fruits, these fruits are partially digested in the civets stomach, which is later defecated (pooped out) and collected to begin the process of cleaning, to create the roasted coffee bean you find in the shops and markets.
This process is suppose to create a luxury bean – one with more flavor due to the acidic digestion process of the animal. In fact, the coffee tends to be more acidic and many people have commented saying it doesn’t taste any different or that it tastes bad. But they try it because it’s an experience, an exotic adventure, a taste of luxury. What many don’t know is that the production process is very cruel. It is also, in many cases, completely illegal, as many of the farmers have acquired their civets in an illegal manner (mainly poaching) or exploit legal policies by breeding. Many of these facilities are also involved in the illegal wildlife trade; from to poaching, to selling wildlife products, to trafficking wildlife. You, in buying these products or visiting these farms, are willingly supporting these illegal activities and animal cruelty.
Many farms label themselves as “organic” having fat happy civets in large enclosures in the front of shop to make you believe they are free range, well cared for and bred on site in good conditions. The reality is, and in some places you can see this for yourself, their living conditions are terrible. They fight with each other, tear each others' ears, tails and limbs off. They are stressed, they have no enrichment in their cages, they rarely have food and water available all day and they are often in such small cages that they can hardly move.
An increase in
demand sees a rise
in poaching
Vietnam is seeing a trend and an increasing demand for the Kopi Luwak, or weasel coffee, the most expensive coffee in the world. Similar to the ‘kopi luwak’ in Indonesia, the weasel coffee in Vietnam is produced by the Asian palm civets (common palm civet - Paradoxurus hermaphroditus),found in country. While the number of civets is declining in the wild, due to hunting for ‘bush meat’, there are farms with the number ranging from two dozen to two thousand individuals for the civet coffee in the Central Highland provinces, including Lam Dong and Dak Lak. The price for a kilogram of civet coffee varies between VND 1.4mil – VND 20mil (approx. US $62 - $890) depending on the ‘farming methods’ of both the coffee and civets.
To meet the demand for a taste of ‘the world’s most expensive coffee’, some farmers in Vietnam are investing millions of dollars into civet coffee farms. However, despite the economic profits that the industry brings about, there are concerns about animal welfare, source of animals and the impacts on the population of wild civet. Moreover, civet coffee business is also linked with the trade of other wildlife products. With millions of visitors visiting Dalat each year (data from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said there are over 6 million visitors to Dalat every year) and the development of the civet farms, alongside elephant coffee farm recently, in the area, it is a real concern that the population of wild civet will be declined dramatically in the near future.
Luxury coffee? Or scam?!
A report from international NGO, Animals Asia following a series of investigations compares the price of Civet Coffee on the Vietnamese market (these prices are relative to other Asian countries like Indonesia selling Civet Coffee). They said "The price for a cup of civet coffee at these shops ranges from VND 60,000 - VND 75,000 (US $2.70 - $3.30 - compared to as much as $100 per cup in London or New York) which is five times more expensive than that of a ‘traditional’ cup of coffee".
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In order for this coffee to truly be collected in the forest, from wild civets, in the wild (organic forests), the labour and production costs would be astronomically higher than what these smaller farms charge and in most places you can see the civets in their cages - it is obvious they are not free range.
Animal welfare.
Animals Asia, in a recent report on the welfare of these civets following a series of undercover investigations, found the following alarming animal welfare issues:
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Civets are fed with unnatural diet (includes chicken soup, cow’s lung, condensed (cow) milk or yoghurt, banana, and coffee bean). Wild civets have a broad diet (including rats, and insects to fruits such as berries, mangos and bananas)
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Civet are force fed coffee beans - farmers feed them a third to a half of their daily food portion with coffee beans,
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Sick or less productive civets were told to be sold to restaurants for bush meat
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Site visits of farms in Vietnam revealed that civets are kept in very poor, inappropriate conditions, with either concrete floor or mesh wire cages provided with no cover, natural light or bedding materials, and very little to no climbing branches (see gallery)
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All the farms allow visitors to be in very close proximity, and even direct contact with the civets, can cause a significant amount of stress and discomfort. Civets were observed to perform repetitive abnormal behaviour including pacing, excessive rubbing against tree branches or structures in their cages. Farmers reported cases of animals fighting to the death during integration (for breeding) due to animals being overly aggressive towards their conspecifics.
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Civets are solitary animals. Restricting them to small condensed spaces with many other civets, seen in these coffee farms, creates a stressful, unnatural and unhealthy environment for the civets
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The stress caused in these environments can induce hair loss and self harm (civets are known to bite off/into their own limbs, ears and tales as well as other civets in close proximity).
IUCN’s Red List status
Asian Palm Civets are listed as the ‘least concern’ species in IUCN’s Red List and are not included in Vietnamese laws (Decree 32/2006/ND-CP or Decree 160/2013/ND-CP - the two most important decrees on ‘Management of Endangered, Precious, and rare Species of Wild Plants and Animals’).
The only regulation of the law that is applicable to the keeping of civet is ‘Management of the Exploitation and Breeding of Common Wildlife Species’. According to this Circular, ‘any individual/organization who would like to breed common wildlife species’, like civets and others listed in the list attached with the circular, has to meet the requirements of: “Possess breeding facilities or a farm that conforms to the growth and development of the species; the facility owner must ensure the safety for humans and captive animals, satisfy environmental and hygiene requirements and disease prevention”, and “For common wildlife species that have been bought from other individuals or organizations: the papers of exchange or sales agreement should be available”.
Research data shows the decreasing populations of civets due to intensive hunting and habitat loss and increase in poaching of civets to fill the demand for the increase in coffee farms. Through undercover research and investigations, civet coffee farmers in Dalat confirmed most of the civets were obtained from the wild through poachers, and they were sold publicly. This will contribute significantly to the population decline.
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Information and research taken from an Animal Asia Report on Civet coffee trade in Vietnam.
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