HelloFresh Is Under Fire For Allegedly Using Monkey Labor
HelloFresh aims to make cooking easy for busy consumers by shipping out boxes of pre-measured ingredients as part of its popular meal kits. The company also includes detailed instructions for preparing each meal, as well as nutritional information for a variety of plans that cater to many different dietary needs. In recipes like Thai Coconut Curry Chicken and One-Pot Spicy Coconut Curry Stir-Fry, HelloFresh ships coconut milk to its customers who select these and similar meals in their plans.
As it turns out, coconuts are big business, including ones that are harvested in Thailand and eventually find their way into HelloFresh kits. According to The Science Agriculture, Thailand is the ninth-largest coconut-producing country in the world, shipping out more than 806,000 tons of coconuts as of 2019. Coconut milk is made from harvested coconuts when the white inner flesh is taken from ripe coconuts and then mixed with water (via Healthline).
However, there is a major ethical concern tied to how these coconuts get into the HelloFresh box. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has accused HelloFresh of taking part in the abuse of monkeys in Thailand to obtain coconut milk, reports CBS News.
Two suppliers have admitted to using animal labor
Per CBS News, PETA alleges that monkeys at 57 different locations in Thailand are chained, whipped, and beaten while they are trained to pick coconuts. PETA conducted its investigation from December 2021 to July 2022 as a follow-up to two previous investigations regarding animal labor practices. PETA found that the Suree and Aroy-D coconut milk suppliers used monkey labor to obtain coconuts. HelloFresh uses both brands to provide ingredients for its meal kits. Other canned coconut milk brands that may use monkey labor include Chaokoh, Tropicana Oil, and Thai Pure, among others.
HelloFresh denied that it was aware of any animal abuse, stating that it had written confirmation from suppliers ensuring no monkey labor was used for any product. The Thai government reportedly assured the organization that monkey labor would no longer be used after the prior two investigations were made public. Despite this, PETA's investigation found that the suppliers still used monkeys to harvest coconuts. PETA is calling on HelloFresh to cut ties with Thailand coconut milk suppliers until the animal labor ends.