Save Mart Stops Buying Coconut Milk Tied to Monkey Labor Following PETA Pressure

For Immediate Release:
June 29, 2021

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Following a PETA campaign and two PETA Asia undercover investigations into the use of isolated, chained, and caged monkeys in Thailand’s coconut-picking industry, grocery chain Save Mart has pulled from its shelves its entire inventory of coconut milk produced by Chaokoh. In response, PETA has ended its campaign against the company—which included meetings, e-mails from nearly 84,000 of the group’s supporters, and a delivery of humanely picked coconuts to the company’s CEO—and thanks it for taking a stand.

“Terrified, chained-up monkeys are tied to the sales of cans of coconut milk,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “By working with PETA, Save Mart made a kind choice for monkeys and the most honest decision for its shoppers.”

PETA Asia’s first investigation found cruelty to monkeys on every farm, at every monkey-training facility, and in every coconut-picking contest that used monkey labor. When not being forced to pick coconuts or perform in circus-style shows for tourists, the animals were kept tethered, chained to old tires, or confined to cages barely larger than their bodies. After a global outcry, the coconut industry claimed to have changed this practice—but PETA Asia’s second investigation found that producers were still using monkey labor.

Save Mart is now among 33,000 stores—including the chains Kroger, Albertsons, Safeway, Wegmans, Costco, Target, Food Lion, and Stop & Shop—that have cut ties with coconut-milk brands that use coconuts picked by monkeys. PETA is now turning its attention to other retailers that still do business with Chaokoh, including Walmart and Publix.

Photos from the most recent investigation are available here, and broadcast-quality footage is available upon request. PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, click here, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.