Coming up… coffee from civet droppings

A small local company is combining commerce with conservation by offering one of the world’s most prized coffees — made from the beans found in the droppings of the civet.

The product, known as "Coffee Alamid" after the local name of the wild animal, is being sold in a few local shops but may soon be exported, the owner of the Bote Central Co. said yesterday.

The blend uses coffee beans processed through the digestive system of the vulnerable Philippine civet, a small, cat-like nocturnal mammal closely related to the mongoose.

The beans, which are swallowed and passed out whole by the animal, are gathered from droppings found at the farm.

The product sells for P3,500 per kilo or retails in bottles for about P450 for 100 grams — enough for about 12 cups.

Coffee from beans found in civet droppings in Vietnam has gained a reputation among connoisseurs as among the best in the world. A similar product is sold in Indonesia.

Vie Reyes, owner and sales manager of Bote Central, said the Department of Trade and the International Coffee Board were certifying the company’s bean-droppings as genuine and the Netherlands was interested in bringing the product to Europe.

Reyes, whose group is involved in preserving native sugar palm, was surprised to discover farmers in the Philippines have long been making coffee from the beans in local civet droppings.

Her company, with the help of non-government organizations, is working on a program that would train certain farmers to gather the beans, Reyes told Agence France Presse.

This will help in the conservation of the civet which has been made "vulnerable" but not yet endangered by destruction of its habitat and because it is being hunted for its meat. — AFP