Forced Monkey Labor Prompts Target To Pull Coconut Milk

According to CNN, after following appeals from PETA into the use of captive monkeys in Thailand’s coconut-picking industry, Target has ended its sale of coconut milk from major producer Chaokoh.

A Target spokesperson said,

“we take seriously the claims made against Chaokoh, and given they were unable to sufficiently address the concerns raised, we made the decision to remove their product from our assortment in November 2020."

Target joins more than 26,000 stores and major retailers that have cut ties with coconut milk brands that use coconuts picked by monkeys.

PETA says that Brazil, Colombia, Hawaii, all get by just fine producing coconuts without forcing monkeys to do their bidding, and it maintains a list of brands that produce coconut water in an ethical manner.

PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman says:

“By dropping Chaokoh, Target is joining thousands of stores that refuse to profit from chained monkeys’ misery,PETA has confirmed that Thai coconut producers are exploiting monkeys and lying about it, so there’s no excuse for any grocery store to keep Chaokoh on its shelves.”

After a global outcry, the coconut industry as a whole claimed to have changed this practice...but PETA found producers still using monkey labor.

The activist organization said that it’s now turning its attention to pressuring a shrinking list of retailers it says are holding out.

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