(BPT) - Being a leader in sustainable farming is more than just ensuring that your company's supply chain is clean, you must work to change the industry for the better. Since its founding in 1976, Theppadungporn Coconut Company Ltd. (TCC), makers of Chaokoh brand products, has been an industry leader in sustainable agriculture practices and food processing and has committed to improving animal welfare across the industry.
As the world's leading manufacturer of coconut milk, coconut water and other coconut products, including Chaokoh, TCC is fully committed to responsibly tracking and purchasing coconuts from reliable parties that avoid monkey labor and fully comply with Thailand's animal welfare laws. We have put in place standards for our farmers that ensure we do not buy or support the use of any animal labor in harvesting coconuts.
TCC is committed to improving animal welfare and that commitment extends well beyond how we conduct our business. No better example highlights this more than TCC's partnership with the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT).
On July 1, 2021, TCC partnered with WFFT to support the rescue and rehabilitation of abused monkeys in Thailand. As part of TCC's vision for monkey-free cultivation, which includes the expansion of its external auditing to maintain the highest standards across its supply chain, this partnership with WFFT aims to aid mistreated monkeys by establishing an effective rescue and rehabilitation system that enhances monkeys' quality of life and well-being. To learn more about WFFT, please visit www.wfft.org.
TCC is helping WFFT to operate new communication channels, developed by WFFT, specifically for receiving reports of monkey exploitation. Anyone with knowledge of monkey labor or abuse can call WFFT. The foundation will respond to confirmed complaints by sending a special veterinary ambulance, sponsored by TCC and equipped with specialist tools tailored exclusively for this monkey rescue effort, to pick up the abused monkey and bring them safely to WFFT's monkey rescue shelter.
The rescued monkeys will receive a thorough health check at an animal hospital, and once cleared of any medical issues, they can retire peacefully at the WFFT sanctuary to be lovingly and properly cared for alongside other rescued monkeys.
TCC's collaboration with WFFT sets a new standard for Thailand's agricultural and industrial sectors. It sets higher ecological and animal welfare ethics and duties, with the aim of paving the way for other companies to implement similar best practices and progressing local agriculture toward a more virtuous future that is free of monkey labor.
On top of the partnership with WFFT, TCC is consistently taking steps to ensure its own supply chain is free of monkey labor. TCC requires all of its suppliers and farmers to sign a memorandum of understanding that commits them to monkey-free coconut cultivation. Regular inspections as well as third-party audits by an international certifier Bureau Veritas, verify that the contracted coconut farmers comply with TCC's standards and avoid monkey labor harvesting.
TCC continues to look for opportunities to ensure sustainable farming and monkey-free labor practices are consistent around Thailand and that their consumers around the world are getting a product that is sustainably sourced. TCC will continue to commit time and effort to work toward a supply chain that is completely free of monkey labor.
