In a statement on Monday, PETA said the retailer abandoned the product because an investigation conducted by the non-profit organization Theppadungporn Coconut Co., based in Thailand, has “exploited monkeys and lied about it”. Target associations Costco (COST), which dropped the milk in October.
PETA’s investigation found that monkeys are forced to harvest coconuts and introduce themselves to tourists, and that they are “tied up, chained to old tires or confined in cages that are little larger than their bodies”. Several PETA Asia investigations have found widespread use of monkey labor across Thailand’s coconut farming industry. Some companies have changed their practices, PETA said, but others simply hide the monkeys when auditors come to check on the animals.
Target (TGT) told CNN Business that he takes “the claims made against Chaokoh seriously, and as they were unable to sufficiently address the concerns raised, we made the decision to remove his product from our assortment in November 2020.”
Chaokoh, one of the world leaders in the production of coconut milk and other coconut products, and Theppadungporn Coconut Co., did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. But the company told USA Today that it audited coconut plantations using a third party and “did not find the use of monkeys for the coconut harvest”.
PETA said Target joins 26,000 stores, including Wegmans, Food Lion and Stop & Shop, which have stopped selling milk. Now it’s turning its focus to Publix, Kroger (KR) and Albertsons who continue to sell Chaokoh products.
Publix told CNN Business that he had examined third-party audits by the company and that Thailand’s ambassador to the United States confirmed that monkeys “are not used in the commercial harvest of coconuts”.
Kroger and Albertsons did not immediately return requests for comment.
– Lauren Padgett of CNN contributed to this report.