On Monday, Target became the last retailer to stop selling Chaokoh coconut milk, according to a statement from PETA. In recent months, the animal advocacy organization has led a boycott campaign against Chaokoh claiming it uses forced monkey labor to make its product.
In the announcement, PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said: “PETA exhibits have confirmed that Thai coconut growers are exploiting monkeys and lying about it, so there is no excuse for no grocery store keep Chaokoh on your shelves. ” The organization applauded Target for joining “thousands of stores” that have agreed to break ties as Wegmans i Costco.
In an emailed statement to Gizmodo, a Target spokesperson said: “We take the claims against Chaokoh seriously and as they were unable to adequately address the concerns raised, we made the decision to withdraw their product from our assortment in November 2020 “.
Chaokoh he said USA Today in November who does not use monkey labor and pointed to a third-party audit that claimed to have randomly selected 64 of 817 coconut farms for inspection and found no monkeys harvesting coconuts.
G / O Media may receive a commission
PETA’s allegations come from multiple investigations was carried out in the coconut collection regions of Thailand. These coconut farms were reported to take monkeys from their mothers when they are young, give them rigid metal necks, and chain them. The monkeys are then trained to climb the trees in their general area and pull down the coconuts to pick them up. It is said that canine teeth are removed from monkeys that resist their captors. According to the investigation, some monkeys are forced to keep two jobs, as their owners force them to participate in “circus-style shows.” (Video of the monkeys can be seen here, but animal lovers should be warned that this is a huge nuisance).
PETA says Brazil, Colombia, Hawaii and some other regions manage to produce coconuts without forcing monkeys to meet their offer, and maintains a list of brands which produce coconut water in an ethical way. The activist organization said it is now engaged in pressuring one reduction list of merchants he says they are holding on.