It was once hailed by Eater as "the most beloved and innovative of all American ice cream ‘novelties,’" but it is no more. Klondike Brand has officially pulled the plug on the Choco Taco. As a company rep explained in an email to CNN Business, "Over the past two years, we have experienced an unprecedented spike in demand across our portfolio and have had to make very tough decisions … We know this may be very disappointing." Indeed, the announcement spurred waves of bereavement and outrage on Twitter, as well as skepticism, per the New York Times, which reports that Snopes initially proclaimed it to be "false," only to backtrack after parent company Unilever confirmed the news.
Born in 1983, the Choco Taco has long been a fixture in ice cream trucks, convenience stores, and community pool snack bars. For some, "it tasted like summer or childhood or a beloved memory," as the Times puts it. For others, perhaps it was always a laughable, avoidable novelty, but nobody can deny that it was a rather brilliant concept. As inventor Alan Drazen explained to Eater: "When you eat a sugar cone, you generally eat the nuts, chocolate, and ice cream on the top, and then when you get to the cone … With the Choco Taco you’re getting the ice cream, cone, nuts, and chocolate with just about every bite."
Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian offered to save the day, tweeting, “Dear Unilever, I'd like to buy the rights to your Choco Taco and keep it from melting away from future generations' childhoods," the AP reports. There was also speculation that the treat may live on as a novelty treat, "something akin to the McDonald’s McRib that still draws crowds when they make an occasional appearance." Klondike hinted at such a future in a tweet late Monday, saying, "We're working hard to find a way to bring Choco Taco back to ice cream trucks in the coming years." (More ice cream stories.)
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