California-Based Grocery Store Operator Nabs Vegan Chocolates in Thanks for Compassionate Decision
For Immediate Release:
October 1, 2018
Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382
Modesto, Calif. – A box of delicious vegan chocolates is on its way from PETA to The Save Mart Companies—the largest family-owned grocery store operator in California, which owns the Save Mart, S-Mart, Lucky, Lucky California, FoodMaxx, and MaxxValue store brands—in thanks for agreeing to stop selling live lobsters. The company’s decision comes after PETA pointed out that lobsters have been classified as “Category I” animals by scientists in the European Union—a designation indicating that there’s “no scientific doubt” that they feel pain—and after recent protections for them have been enacted in countries including Norway, New Zealand, and Switzerland.
“This kind company did the right thing in pledging to toss out its lobster tanks and spare these sensitive sea animals the agony of being boiled alive for dinner,” says PETA Director of Corporate Affairs Anne Brainard. “PETA is recognizing The Save Mart Companies for doing its part to save lobsters’ lives and is calling on all other grocery stores to follow suit.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that lobsters are intelligent individuals who use complex signals to establish social relationships and take long-distance seasonal journeys, often traveling up to 100 miles in a year. They’re typically killed by being cut up or lowered into pots of boiling water while they’re still conscious, causing them to whip their bodies wildly against the sides of the pot in an attempt to escape.
The Save Mart Companies joins top grocery chains Safeway and Raley’s Supermarkets, both of which discontinued the sale of live lobsters following complaints from concerned customers.
PETA offers a free vegan starter kit (available here) full of recipes, tips, and more. For more information, please visit PETA.org.
