An undercover PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) investigation claims to have exposed the “extreme suffering” of Asian luwaks on Indonesian kopi luwak (or civet coffee) farms. Although some businesses have stopped selling the so-called delicacy amid growing animal welfare concerns, big-name brands like British luxury department store Harrods continue to offer kopi luwak products.

Kopi luwak is a high-end, novelty coffee produced from partially digested coffee cherries. The coffee cherries are fed to luwaks, wher they ferment in the intestine before being collected from the animals’ feces. Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of kopi luwak, wher it is sold in tourist cafes and exported globally.

PETA’s footage appears to show malnourished luwaks, several with bald patches, parasitic infections or open wounds, all locked within small cages. Some of the animals are filmed spinning in their cages, which the NGO suggests is a sign of zoochosis — a mental disorder caused by extreme stress, fear and frustration from intense confinement.

PETA has called on consumers to urge Harrods, Bacha Coffee, Coffee Bean Shop, Rich Exclusive Coffee, Sea Island Coffee and Roast & Post to cut ties with the kopi luwak trade. The NGO cannot confirm that any of the farms in the recent investigation sell directly to these firms but raises questions as to whether kopi luwak can realistically be produced without animal exploitation.

“Since PETA Asia’s multiple investigations into the industry, many businesses have made the compassionate decision to remove kopi luwak from their shelves. Others, like Harrods, continue profiting from animals’ misery for a novelty product,” PETA campaigns advisor Mimi Bekhech tells Food Ingredients First.

“It’s worth noting that producers often deliberately mislabel the beans from captive civet cats as ‘wild-sourced’ to dupe customers and retailers. One farm worker told an investigator, ‘We label this as wild because even though the animals are caged now, they came from the wild.’ Other farmers have openly admitted that gathering enough wild civet cat excrement would be nearly impossible.”

Harrods provided us with the following response: “We take animal welfare and ethical sourcing very seriously. The Wild Kopi Luwak coffee sold at Harrods is sourced exclusively from basero, a supplier that guarantees the beans are collected from 100% wild animals, without causing harm during the production or harvest of the beans.”

“basero is a Belgium-based gourmet coffee company specializing in ethically sourced Wild Kopi Luwak coffee. The beans are naturally excreted by 100% wild animals in North Sumatra (specifically the Takengon region), Indonesia, and carefully harvested by trained specialists.”

“We conduct regular traceability reviews with mass balance and audits — the most recent traceability review was in August 2024, with no issues identified.”

Leaving a bad taste

Luwaks are a protected species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Animals and Flora. However, PETA claims the animals are usually captured when they are about six months old and commonly fed almost exclusively coffee cherries, leading to malnutrition, skin conditions and abdominal pain.

The undercover footage also appears to show a farmer feeding coffee cherries to detained, illegally kept binturongs — an animal listed on the International unio for Conservation of Nature Red List as “vulnerable.” PETA claims that these excreted cherries were then labeled as luwak coffee and sold.

The NGO also warns that confining animals amid their own waste, with no possibility of freedom or socialization, can weaken their immune systems, creating a breeding ground for zoonotic diseases that can easily mutate and spread to humans. SARS, with an estimated human mortality rate of around 15%, has previously spread from luwaks to humans.

Within the coffee industry, kopi luwak is widely considered a gimmick with inferior taste to other coffees. The Specialty Coffee Association of America has stated there is a “general consensus within the industry [that] it just tastes bad.”