Great News! SuperValu Drops Coconut Milk Brand After Monkey Abuse Exposé!
SuperValu, one of Ireland’s major retailers, has dropped the coconut milk brand Chaokoh after it was implicated in PETA Asia’s undercover investigations into the use of monkeys in Thailand’s coconut industry.
The two PETA Asia investigations that prompted SuperValu to take action revealed monkeys being forced into labour in the Thai coconut industry on farms exporting products around the world for the brand Chaokoh.
Why Has SuperValu Made the Ethical Choice to Ban the Coconut Milk Brand?
The animals at these facilities – many of whom were illegally captured as babies – displayed stereotypic behaviour indicative of extreme stress.
Monkeys were chained to old tyres or confined to cages that were barely large enough for them to turn around in. One monkey in a cage on a truck bed was seen frantically shaking the cage bars in a futile attempt to escape, and a screaming monkey on a rope desperately tried to run away from a handler.
An investigator learned that if monkeys try to defend themselves, their canine teeth may be pulled out.
Forced Monkey Labour
These curious, highly intelligent animals are denied psychological stimulation, companionship, freedom, and everything else that would make their lives worth living, all so that they can be used to gather coconuts.
PETA is grateful to SuperValu for taking action to rid its shelves of this unethical brand and is calling on Chaokoh to stop supporting this cruel industry by obtaining its coconuts from companies that don’t use monkeys.
Who Else Has Banned Chaokoh?
In the UK, Morrisons has suspended its supply of Chaokoh pending investigation. Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Asda have removed Chaokoh products from their shelves. And Ocado, Waitrose, and Co-op have committed to never knowingly selling any products sourced from monkey labour. Walgreens Boots Alliance (operator of Boots) has pledged not to stock Chaokoh and not to knowingly sell any own-brand coconut food and drink products of Thai origin in its stores in Thailand, the UK, and the US.
Dozens more international retailers have also dropped the brand after learning about the forced monkey labour in PETA Asia’s exposé.
What’s Next?
Despite major retailers breaking ties with Chaokoh, the brand continues to exploit monkeys. Send a message and urge the company to switch to ethical, non-animal methods of harvesting coconuts:
