- Klondike announced that it has discontinued the Choco Taco.
- As someone who once loved this ice-cream-truck staple, I’m sad to see it go.
- Fans including Alexis Ohanian and Alex Morgan took to social media to mourn the treat.
I must have been between the ages of 7 and 10 the last time I had a Choco Taco. I’d be playing youth soccer at the town park when the ice-cream truck rolled up and we all ran to get a treat. Every time, without fail, I’d get this bizarre innovation.
It’s one of those core memories I think about often. Every time I’ve walked past a Choco Taco at a store here in New York, I thought about it. I remember loving every bite of that thing — it was messy, embarrassing, and awesome all at the same time.
On Monday, Twitter started to buzz with the news that Klondike has discontinued the Choco Taco, and soon enough it was all over my social media feeds. I was sitting on my bed when I heard the news, and a piece of my heart sank a little. “There it goes,” I thought. “Another childhood indulgence has gone to the snack graveyard.”
I was glad to see that I wasn’t alone in my grief, though. Fans of the discontinued treat, including some celebrities, collectively started to mourn on Twitter.
—Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) July 25, 2022
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian tweeted on Monday that he wants to purchase the rights to the product and reproduce it himself.
And I’ve never felt closer to FIFA World Cup champion Alex Morgan than when I saw her reply tweet saying, “This was my go-to post soccer practice treat growing up!!!”
Ohanian then said, “YOOOOOOOO @NWSL partnership in the making. Let’s make this happen, Unilever! You just got the Champ’s endorsement.”
Patrick Schwarzenegger joined in on the conversation, telling Ohanian that he’d chip in for the investment, too.
The Instagram hashtag #chocotaco has over 84,000 posts, with many of the most recent ones being tributes to the ice cream with “R.I.P.” written across them or illustrations of a tombstone.
There’s no question that this ice-cream truck mainstay was a drippy mess, but it was also perfect in a way. It allowed customers to get a bite of the cone, ice cream, and topping all in one throughout the entire eating experience. That’s innovation at its finest, if you ask me.
The discontinuation feels like it’s signaling an end to the era of the ice-cream truck I knew and loved. The truck in my childhood neighborhood hasn’t come around in close to two decades, and most of the trucks I see in New York City offer self-branded soft-serve and that’s it. If Klondike was willing to nix the Choco Taco, what else are these companies willing to get rid of? What about Popsicle’s Snow Cone or Good Humor’s Strawberry Shortcake?
A representative for Klondike told Insider in an email that the decision to discontinue this beloved item was a difficult one, but it had to be done in order for the company to fulfill an increasing demand for its other products.
“We know this may be very disappointing, but we hope you’ll try one of our other great products,” the statement reads.
As mentioned, I haven’t had a Choco Taco in around 20 years. But right now, it’s all I can think about. Nothing gets people craving something like telling us it’s going to be gone forever. So savor those last few bites, ice-cream taco lovers, because once your trucks and local vendors run out of their current supply, that’s it.
