The Civet Project Foundation is based in Lewes, Sussex, and is the world’s only charity dedicated to the protection of all Viverrid species.
In a world first, conservationists, animal welfarists and tourism experts, have come together to call for an end to civet coffee tourism. Civet coffee (also known as kopi luwak) is coffee that has been pre-digested and defecated by civets, small nocturnal carnivores from southeast Asia.
Known as the most expensive coffee in the world, one cup of civet coffee can reach prices of up to £50 per cup. However, civet coffee is overwhelmingly produced by capturing, caging, and force feeding civets raw coffee cherries, with horrific consequences for animal welfare, conservation and public health.
Jes Hooper is a Brighton-born postgraduate researcher for the University of Exeter, whose research focuses on civet coffee production and tourism, founded the Civet Project Foundation (registered charity no. 1206208) in 2022 to raise awareness of the threats civets face.
On 4th April, the charity is launching the first ever World Civet Day- a global day of civet celebration, alongside the release of their documentary film “Civet Coffee: From Rare the Reckless” which details the teams journey to Vietnam in search for the truth behind the world’s most expensive coffee.
Jes Hooper, who narrates the film, explained:
“Despite its value coming from its claims of rarity, every day civets are captured from the wild via inhumane snares where they suffer horrific wounds including the loss of limbs. They then find themselves placed in small barren cages where they are force fed coffee and photographed by tourists. There is simply no need for this industry and this cruelty has to stop. We hope our film will inform travelers and encourage tour operators to stop promoting civet coffee on their platforms”.
As part of the documentary’s call to action, The Civet Project Foundation are calling on TripAdvisor to issue an animal welfare warning on all civet coffee attractions on their website.
Jes explained:
“ As the largest travel review site in the world, TripAdvisor boasts more than 460 million site visitors per month- each hoping to make the most of their travel experience. However, TripAdvisor is not responsibly informing tourists about the animal attractions that actively breach their own animal welfare policy. Our message is simple: TripAdvisor must adhere to its own animal welfare policy by issuing a welfare warning for all civet coffee attractions on their platform.”
From 4th April, audiences can watch ‘Civet Coffee: From Rare to Reckless’ on Ecoflix, the world’s only non-profit streaming channel. Universities, coffee shops, and community organisations are encouraged to claim a free copy of the film via The Civet Project website, and the film will be published publicly on YouTube from June 2024.
Learn more about Civet coffee via the charity’s website: https://www.thecivetproject.com/civetcoffee
