“Thai Monkeys Never Have a Happy Birthday, Jason.” That’s the message that will be delivered on a birthday cake, complete with a picture of a screaming, chained monkey, by an 8-foot crying “monkey” to Whole Foods CEO Jason Buechel at his lavish high-rise condo on Sunday. The birthday blitz will continue as PETA plasters Buechel’s neighborhood with “Wanted” posters calling him out for selling coconut milk from Thailand, where the coconut industry is driven by the forced labor of endangered pig-tailed macaques, as found by multiple PETA Asia investigations.
Where: 301 West Ave., Austin
When: Sunday, March 24, 12 noon
Left: Whole Foods CEO Jason Buechel’s birthday card from PETA.
Right: “Wanted” posters will be plastered near Buechel’s home, Whole Foods’ headquarters, and the company’s flagship store.
“As Buechel celebrates another birthday lounging in luxury, monkeys in Thai jungles are being kidnapped, chained up, whipped, and used as coconut-picking machines,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “Getting monkey abuse out of Whole Foods’ stores would be a piece of cake. All Buechel has to do is hear PETA’s pleas and sell coconut milk from India, the Philippines, and other countries where monkey labor isn’t used.”
Multiple companies that produce coconut milk sold at Whole Foods were named by industry workers in a PETA Asia investigation as having used coconuts obtained by monkey labor. HelloFresh, Purple Carrot, and Performance Food Group stopped sourcing coconut milk from Thailand following the exposé—but Whole Foods continues to sell Thai coconut milk.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness.
For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
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