Appeal of Kopi Luwak Triggers Rising Cat Communities
Civet coffee, or Kopi Luwak as it is more widely known, has become more and more popular across the globe and is increasingly viewed as a rare delicacy, to the point where a cup of the animal-derived elixir can command up to US$100 per cup in certain markets.
Although good news for enthusiasts of this particular type of coffee, the reported increase in the abundance of the Asian palm civet is not quite so welcomed by those living in their near vicinity.
Considered a pest due to their omnivorous diet, local residents of Indonesia’s Lampung province, a key area for the keeping of these animals, are becoming more and more anxious that their poultry and fruit crops will be dented by the rise of the palm civet in the wild.
Attributed to the increase in the number of civet farms in the area, where the creatures are released to feed on coffee berries, the increase in their abundance, although worrying for locals, may also be a blessing, according to a resident of Nampung’s west district by the name of Marsidi, who pointed out that those able to catch the animals would be financially rewarded for their efforts.
Despite the increase in the civet population not being so positively viewed by all, this is clearly good news for the global coffee industry, where Kopi Luwak, whose process involves feeding coffee fruit to caged civets then extracting the coffee from droppings, is dubbed the most expensive coffee in the world.