Choco Taco

The Choco Taco was a Good Humor-Breyers ice cream novelty resembling a taco. It consisted of a disk of waffle cone material folded to resemble a hard taco shell, reduced-fat vanilla ice cream, artificially flavored fudge, peanuts, and a milk chocolate coating. The Choco Taco was marketed under the Klondike brand as "The Original Ice Cream Taco".

The Choco Taco stopped producing in 2022.

History

1983–1999: Introduction and improvement

The Choco Taco was invented in Philadelphia in 1983 by Alan Drazen, a mobile food vendor manager for the Jack and Jill Ice Cream Company. The product rolled out in 1984 and it became popular among mobile vending trucks and convenience stores. It made its first appearance in supermarkets nationwide when Good Humor-Breyers, who were manufacturing it in Richmond, Virginia, promoted it in 1996 as "America's coolest taco" at the Supermarket Industry Convention in Chicago.

In 1998, Unilever introduced the Choco Taco to Italy and United Kingdom under the name Winner Taco through its subsidiaries Algida and Walls. In 1999 it was introduced in Sweden through another subsidiary, GB Glace, under the same name.

In 1999, the company improved the product, incorporating a shell which stayed crisper, and introduced new packaging. The same year, the company introduced a Klondike Cookies & Cream Choco Taco, containing cookies and cream ice cream and covered with cookie pieces. Choco Tacos were also sold at some Taco Bell restaurants.

2022: Discontinuation and aftermath

Klondike discontinued the Choco Taco in July 2022. According to an Associated Press fact check, Klondike discontinued the product due to a sharp increase in demand across its brands and to ensure the availability of the remainder of its products. However, Klondike tweeted that "we are discussing next steps, including what to do with the last 912 (we counted) tacos at HQ. Stay tuned…" on July 28, 2022, but have never followed up on this claim.
On July 25, 2022 Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian tweeted at Unilever, offering to buy the rights to the product. When asked about this by ''Fortune'', Ohanian confirmed that the offer was "very serious" but did not yet have any news to share.
The discontinuation was referenced at the very end of the ''Rick and Morty'' episode "Night Family" (S6:E4).

References

{{Unilever

American brands
Ice cream brands
Products and services discontinued in 2022
Products introduced in 1983
Taco
Unilever brands