Did a Monkey Pick Your Coconuts?

In some regions of the world, pig-tailed macaques are intentionally bred and trained – often with punishment – to harvest coconuts. The monkeys are always tethered to their “handler” and are not permitted to eat the coconuts they collect. No statistics exist detailing exactly how many monkeys are bred and used for this purpose. In an effort to help compassionate consumers make informed choices, Animal Place reached out to a number of companies that sell coconut oil or other products containing coconuts. This is not an exhaustive list and you can reach out to a company yourself and let us know if they respond. Our Approved! list includes companies that do not use monkeys and, also important, that engage in practices protecting the rights of human workers as well (e.g. fair trade, no child labor.) We will add to this list as we learn more information.

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Photo by David Edwards, under Creative Commons License

APPROVED! Companies That DO NOT Use Monkeys AND are Fair-Trade
These companies engage in ethical business practices, ensuring human workers are properly compensated for their work. They do not use monkeys or human children to harvest coconuts.

Amy & Brian
Daiya
3 Buddhas Coconut Water
Alaffia
Aunt Patty’s
Ayam
Artisana Organics
Better Body Foods
Big Tree Farms
Califia Farms
Carrington Farms
Coconut Bliss
COCO LUXE LIFE (Australia)
Coconut Magic (Australia)
Coconut Secret
Dr. Bronner’s

Earth Circle Organics
Earth Conscious
Harmless Harvest
La Tourangelle Artisan Oils
Maison Orphee
Naked Coconuts
Native Pacific “Banaban” (Queensland)
Nutiva
Ojio (Ultimate Superfoods)
Sanso-Boeki LLC (Japan)
So Delicious
Silk
Spectrum Organics
Trader Joe’s
Tropical Traditions
Vita Coco

Companies that responded but did not clarify whether monkeys were used:
Taste the Dream (Hain-Celestial) – stated that their products are fair-trade but did not clarify that only adult humans harvested coconuts.
Coconut Oil Supreme
Mercola
Blue Diamond

Companies that have not responded yet:

Better Body Foods
Native Forest
Nature’s Way
Thai Kitchen
Trident (Australia)
Bio Foods
Chaokoh
Coconut Beach
Harvest Bay
LouAna
Nature’s Bounty
Nature’s Charm
Safeway
Spiral Foods
Taste of Thai

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