By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
It doesn't exactly bear the hallmarks of a genius marketing campaign, but it would probably rank fairly high on originality.
The latest high-end product hitting the market, Kopi Luwak, a coffee, is being sold for 42,000 won ($32) a cup. But here's the clincher: it's made from the feces of civet cats.
One of the world's most expensive coffees, it will be offered at The Library, a lounge and bar at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul, starting from Wednesday.
The move marks the first time the coffee has been retailed in Korea.
Though the price per cup is 35,000 won, the actual payment will total 42,350 won after tax and a service charge.
Kopi Luwak is collected from the excrement of civet cats on the Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi islands in Indonesia, the Philippines and East Timor.
The cats eat coffee berries, with the beans contained inside excreted undigested. After passing through the digestive systems of the cats, the coffee beans are said to acquire a better taste and the aroma of trees.
Only 500 kilograms are collected per year, so the coffee beans sell at 900,000 to 1 million won per kilogram.
``Most Luwak coffee products are blended with other beans because of the rarity, but the one at Shilla is pure Luwak, imported directly from Indonesia,'' a Shilla official said.
``Luwak coffee has been traded here among coffee lovers, but this is the first time for it to be officially sold in a coffee shop,'' he said.