Target will no longer sell coconut milk produced by the Thai company Chaokoh after an investigation claimed that the drink is related to the forced labor of monkeys, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals announced on Monday.
“By giving up Chaokoh, Target joins thousands of stores that refuse to take advantage of 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 monitoring the exploitation of monkeys in Thailand since 2019, has conducted two covert investigations that have found that primates are forced to pick coconuts all day with chains around their necks. The group’s survey found “cruelty to monkeys on every farm, at every monkey training facility and in every coconut harvesting competition that used the work of monkeys.”
“When not forced to pick coconuts or participate in circus-style shows for tourists, the animals were kept tied up, chained by old tires or locked in cages barely larger than their bodies,” PETA wrote in a Press release.
Following the PETA investigations, the coconut industry claimed that they changed their practice and no longer used the monkey labor, but a second probe found that it was still happening.
“The second PETA Asia survey found producers who still use monkey labor and those inside the industry to discuss how farms hide this practice by simply hiding monkeys until auditors leave or by hiring monkeys to bring in monkeys only. during the harvest “, said PETA.
PETA has lobbied major food 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 brand.
Meanwhile, Kroger, Albertsons and Publix continue the practice.