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Walmart has become the latest retail giant to clear off the coconut milk brand, Chaokoh, from its shelves. This was in response to multiple reports that the brand was involved in forced animal labor.
Chaokoh has been accused by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) of using monkeys as part of their labor during harvests. PETA shared their findings and called out to thousands of mega-retailers, including Walmart, to take action.
Why did Walmart clear Chaokoh from its shelves?
PETA is a well-known organization radically involved in vetting organizations regarding animal treatment. In its recent findings and claims, Thai coconut milk producer, Chaokoh, went under heavy scrutiny. The company was accused of using the monkeys as slave laborers while keeping them chained with inadequate care.
Before this, PETA took it upon itself to track monkey exploitation in Thailand by going undercover into some establishments. According to investigations, the primates found in "every farm, monkey-training facility and in every coconut-picking contest that used monkey labor" experienced animal cruelty. The president of PETA, Tracy Reiman, revealed:
"The coconut trade uses social monkeys as chained-up coconut-picking machines, depriving them of any opportunity to eat, play, or spend time with their families."
Walmart became privy to this information after receiving over 80,000 emails demanding that they pull back on the sale of Chaokoh coconut milk and also take it off their product lists. PETA supporters reportedly sent the emails.
Walmart is not the only retailer that has removed Chaokoh
The establishment is one of many popular retail stores that have taken Chaokoh coconut milk off their list of products for sale. According to reports, PETA has successfully gotten over 40,000 stores to clear the product from their shelves.
Other popular franchises that no longer carry Chaokoh in their stores include Costco, Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Albertsons, Wegmans, and Publix.
The coconut-producing industry reportedly claimed to have stopped the practice, but after a second investigation, there were indications that the monkey labor was still in practice. Furthermore, it was also gathered that within the industry, producers often hid the monkeys when auditors came around.
Chaokoh's official website summarizes the Bureau Veritas Certification from 2020, which was assigned to conduct a Monkey-free Coconut Due Diligence Assessment. The reports also indicated that the Bureau Veritas Certification selected 87 out of 817 farms to conduct the research. It was gathered that there was no use of monkeys for harvesting.
Despite the 2020 reports, PETA begged to differ. After their investigations, the non-profit prompted retail stores to stop carrying the Chaokoh coconut milk. Swift responses were gathered from Walgreens, Giant Food, and Stop & Shop. They were the first set of stores to stop displaying the products.
Costco and Wegmans followed suit in the fall of 2020, while Kroger and Target stopped displaying the coconut milk products in 2021.
