Target will stop selling coconut milk made by Thai company Chaokoh after an investigation alleged that the drink was linked to forced monkey labor, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals announced on Monday.
“By dropping Chaokoh, Target joins thousands of stores that refuse to benefit from the misery of chained monkeys,” PETA executive vice president Tracy Reiman wrote in a statement.
“PETA exhibits have confirmed that Thai coconut growers are exploiting monkeys and lying about it, so there is no excuse for any grocery store to keep Chaokoh on its shelves.”
PETA, which has been tracking the exploitation of monkeys in Thailand since 2019, conducted two covert investigations that found primates were forced to collect coconuts all day with chains around their necks. The group’s investigation found “cruelty to monkeys on all farms, in all monkey training facilities and in all coconut collection competitions that used monkey labor.”
“When not forced to pick coconuts or perform in circus-style shows for tourists, the animals were kept tied up, chained to old tires or confined to cages barely larger than their bodies,” PETA wrote. in a press release.
After PETA investigations, the coconut industry claimed that they changed their practice and no longer used monkey labor, but a second probe found it was still happening.
“PETA Asia’s second research found producers who still use monkey jobs and industry professionals discussing how farms hide this practice by simply hiding monkeys until auditors leave or hiring contractors to bring monkeys only during harvest,” he said. dir PETA.
PETA has been pushing major grocery chains to stop selling Chaokoh and so far more than 26,000 stores, including Wegmans, Costco, Food Lion, Stop & Shop and now Target, have agreed to cut ties with the brand.
Meanwhile, Kroger, Albertsons and Publix continue the practice.