An international PETA campaign hitting Whole Foods stores has arrived in Vancouver, Canada, where a vivid image of a chained macaque from a PETA Asia investigation has popped up at a bus shelter across from the company’s Robson Street location. The ad warns shoppers not to buy coconut milk obtained from Thailand, where forced monkey labor is pervasive.

Even after learning that Thailand’s coconut-picking industry is fueled by the labor of endangered pig-tailed macaques—many of whom were illegally snatched from their forest homes as babies—Whole Foods continues to sell Thai coconut milk. Several companies that produce coconut milk brands sold by Whole Foods were named by industry workers as having sourced coconuts obtained via monkey labor.

In the Thai coconut-picking industry, it’s common for handlers to fit monkeys in rigid metal collars. Humans use chains and leashes to choke and control the animals. Some even pull out the monkeys’ canine teeth so that they can’t defend themselves. Because the industry and the Thai government lie about their systemic reliance on forced monkey labor, it’s impossible to guarantee that any coconut milk from Thailand is free of this abuse.

With this new ad campaign, PETA is calling on Whole Foods to sell coconut milk only from countries where monkey labor isn’t used, such as India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. But these anti-speciesist spots at bus stops are just one way that we’re attempting to persuade the company to make the conscientious choice to ban Thai coconut products.

‘Monkey Business’ at Whole Foods: PETA Dumps Coconuts Outside Whole Foods Stores

At head-turning protests across the country, PETA “monkeys” in prisoner costumes have dumped wheelbarrows full of humanely picked coconuts outside Whole Foods stores.

On June 14, 2023, six PETA members were arrested inside a Whole Foods location in Washington, D.C., while holding a sit-in to protest the company’s sale of coconut milk from Thailand.

Special Delivery: PETA Lobs Coconuts at Whole Foods Execs Over Forced Monkey Labor

Whole Foods CEO Jason Buechel and the company’s nine regional presidents received some unusual gifts from PETA. We sent each of them an armload of human-picked coconuts along with a letter urging them to ban Thai coconut milk from Whole Foods’ shelves.

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Here’s What You Can Do to Help Monkeys

Always check the labels on coconut milk products, and whether it’s in a can, a box, or other packaging, if it reads, “Product of Thailand,” leave the item on the shelf.

Please urge Whole Foods to stop supporting the cruel Thai coconut-picking industry: