is the latest trend
in Madagascar's coffee market
Location: Itasy province
Wild bats chew on the rare, ripe berries
giving them what coffee lovers call
a "uniquely smooth flavor"
(SOUNDBITE) (French) JACQUES RAMARLAH, FOUNDER OF THE KAFEN RAZANA BOURBON POINTU COFFEE BRAND, SAYING:
"Next year, we will ask farmers to focus only on the coffee (beans) chewed by bats, this means the farmers will harvest only the mature seeds and that will improve the quality of our harvest."
The saliva-covered bourbon pointu bean
sells for nearly $110 per pound
and farmers plan to produce
20 tones of coffee by 2021