The Cruel Production Process of Elephant Dung Coffee Exposed: Unveiling the Origins and Price of Elephant Dung Coffee

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange

The World's Most Expensive Coffee: Black Ivory Coffee

Coffee earned the nickname "black gold" for good reason — the business it creates is worth astonishing sums. Do you know how much a single cup of premium coffee can sell for? The answer: 1,500 yuan a cup. Imagine what drinking a 1,500 yuan cup of coffee would feel like. Now imagine that the beans for that cup were picked out of elephant dung. Why can beans recovered from elephant droppings produce some of the best-tasting coffee in the world?

The official name for elephant dung coffee is Black Ivory Coffee, a name inspired by premium civet coffee — also known as cat poop coffee — which is likewise born from animal feces. The man behind it is Canadian entrepreneur Blake Dinkin, who partnered with hotels in northern Thailand. There, 20 elephants are raised to produce this expensive coffee.

The Production Process

Step One

After the coffee cherries are picked, they are mixed with fruits and rice to make snacks for the elephants.

Step Two

Once the elephants have enjoyed their snacks, they are released to roam around and exercise.

Step Three

Some 15-30 hours later, the elephants defecate.

Step Four

Workers at the elephant sanctuary collect these precious droppings and pick the coffee cherries out of them.

Step Five

Locals then clean and extract the cherries to obtain the final coffee beans, which begin the roasting process.

Step Six

At last, a 1,500 yuan cup of elephant dung coffee is born.

Why is Elephant Dung Coffee So Delicious?

Elephant dung coffee reportedly tastes so good because the beans ferment naturally inside the elephant's stomach. On top of that, the enzymes in the elephant's gut strip out the beans' bitterness with remarkable precision. The resulting brew therefore carries natural grassy and fruity aromas with almost no bitterness at all.

The downside is poor efficiency: one elephant has to eat 33 kilograms of raw coffee cherries to yield just 1 kilogram of coffee beans.

Social Impact and Sustainability

For all its price, 8% of the profits from elephant dung coffee are donated to local elephant rescue organizations. Beyond caring for the elephants, the funds also help secure the livelihoods of the mahouts — the elephants' caretakers — at the sanctuary. So as long as no one rushes to scale up efficiency, both sides stand to benefit.

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