Is It Ethical?
Why there is no certification scheme, and what to ask instead.
Provenance
Where It Comes From
There is no certification body for wild Kopi Luwak anywhere in the world. Rather than design a badge for our own website, here is the actual chain — including its limits.
Origin
The Gayo Highlands, Aceh
Our coffee comes from the Gayo Highlands in Aceh province, at the northern end of Sumatra, grown between 1,400 and 1,600 metres. The varietal is Gayo Arabica.
We buy directly from farming families in the region rather than through brokers or exporters, which is both the reason we can say where it comes from and the reason there is not very much of it.
The Chain
Every Step, In Order
Selection
Free-roaming wild civets choose ripe cherries at the forest edge, at night. No animal is confined, fed or handled at any point.
Gayo Arabica ripening on the branch, April 2025. Collection
Farmers walk the forest edge and collect beans from the forest floor by hand.
As our collectors found it. Phone photograph, not retouched. Washing
Beans are thoroughly washed at origin. The outer material is removed entirely; the bean itself was never digested.
Drying
Sun-dried on raised beds in the highland air, turned by hand.
Gayo coffee drying in the highlands, April 2025. Sorting
Sorted bean by bean. Defects, underripe and damaged beans are removed manually.
Roasting
Roasted in small batches at origin, medium roast, the traditional Gayo way.
Packing
Weighed, filled and sealed at the farm into one-way valve pouches, then shipped to the UK.
Honesty
What We Can and Cannot Evidence
What we can evidence: the region and altitude, the direct relationships with the farming families, the processing method, that the coffee is roasted and sealed at origin, and that our volumes are harvest-limited — which is why the 125g Connoisseur goes out of stock rather than being permanently available.
What we cannot evidence: that a particular bean came from a particular animal on a particular night. No producer on earth can evidence that, and any who claim to are describing a process that does not exist.
What is certified: the coffee is certified Halal and Kosher. There is no certification for wild sourcing itself anywhere in the world, which is why the forest is open to you on our Origin Journey.
The Test
Hold Us to It
If anything on this page is unclear or you want to ask something specific about a batch, write to us. We answer questions about sourcing directly, and we would rather have the conversation than lose you to a company with a shinier claim.
Email support@gayowild.com.
Or come and see the chain for yourself. Our Origin Journey takes small groups through every step on this page, from the forest floor where the civets roam to the sealing of the pouch.
Keep Reading
Related
Wild vs Caged
How to read the difference before you buy from anyone.
Our Story
How these relationships in Aceh came about.
See For Yourself
The Collection
Wild Kopi Luwak from the Gayo Highlands, with free UK delivery.