How Monkeys Are Creating A Coconut Milk Shortage At Costco

Costco (COST) has pulled another product from its store shelves, but this time it is because of how it is made -- with forced monkey labor.

The wholesale retailer has made the decision to pull coconut milk, including the brand Chaokoh, which is made by Thai producers who allegedly use monkeys to forcibly pick coconuts from the trees, officials at the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said.

According to PETA, consumers choose to buy coconut milk instead of cow’s milk because they don’t want to support animal cruelty. In reality, PETA said that these monkeys are kept chained, abusively trained, and forced to climb trees to pick the coconuts. The coconuts are then used to make milk, meat, flour, oil, and other products.

For its investigation, PETA visited eight farms where monkeys were forced to pick coconuts, including a Chaokoh farm – one of Thailand’s major producers of coconut milk. Here, PETA claims it witnessed abuse and cruelty to monkeys, which are typically pigtail macaques.

The organization said the monkeys are illegally abducted from their families and homes when they are just babies to work on these farms. Once there, the monkeys are fitted with metal collars and tethered for extended periods of time. PETA said they “slowly lose their minds,” causing them to pace back and forth and walk in circles as they are chained.

PETA’s investigation into the forced labor of monkeys in Thailand to produce coconut milk prompted several retailers to remove the product. Costco is only the latest retailer to pull coconut milk from its store shelves as Walgreens, Cost Plus World Market, Food Lion, H-E-B, Sears, ShopRite, and Smart & Final have all made the decision to remove the product, PETA said.

PETA is calling for other grocery chains that sell coconut milk to remove the product and ban it from its stores. There are, however, several brands of coconut milk that do not use monkeys in their production, PETA said.

Shares of Costco were trading at $369.00 as of 9:07 a.m. EDT, down $3.72 or 1%.