Yes, the Choco Taco has been discontinued

On July 21, an ice cream truck franchise owner posted a meme to Facebook that rocked the ice cream world to its very core. The meme had a picture of a headstone with the Choco Taco logo and the words “R.I.P Choco Taco 1984-2022.”

“You heard it here first! The choco taco has been discontinued. This is a shocker! The choco taco has been around since 1984, and was one of our most popular products,” the post on the Sno Kone Joe Facebook page said. The post has been shared more than 22,000 times.

In recent weeks, Google Trends data shows a significant increase in searches for “choco taco discontinued.” The VERIFY team went to the source to find out if the rumors were true.

THE QUESTION

Has the Choco Taco been discontinued?

THE SOURCES

• Klondike, the manufacturer of the Choco Taco
• Joshua Malatino, owner of Sno Kone Joe

THE ANSWER

Yes, the Choco Taco has been discontinued.

WHAT WE FOUND

The Klondike Choco Taco has been discontinued in both 1-count and 4-count pack sizes, a Klondike representative told VERIFY. The company also posted a statement about the product being discontinued on its website.

Fans of the dessert know the Choco Taco is not a traditional ice cream sandwich – it consists of a waffle cone folded into the shape of a taco shell, filled with ice cream and topped with chocolate and peanuts. 

It was first invented in Philadelphia by Alan Drazen in 1984. In a 2017 interview with food magazine Eater, Drazen said at the time he was working for an ice cream company and became inspired by the growing popularity of Mexican food in the U.S. and wanted to create a taco-like dessert.

Joshua Malatino, owner and operator of Sno Kone Joe, an ice cream truck franchise based in Fulton County, New York, posted the viral Facebook meme with news about the product being discontinued. This post was one of the earliest VERIFY could find.

Malatino told VERIFY his distributor in Albany, New York, told him there were “a lot of issues” with getting the chocolate treat.

Malatino said he then took matters into his own hands and called Klondike himself. A representative from the company told him the product was no longer available. 

“I was shocked because the Choco Taco is one of the most popular items on the ice cream truck. So I really didn't know what to think, with them discontinuing it, and without any reason,” Malatino said. “They gave me no reason as to why they were discontinuing the item.”

The Klondike representative told VERIFY that over the last two years the demand for other Klondike products is greater than the demand of the Choco Taco. In order to make sure their entire product line would remain available nationwide, Klondike made the cut. 

“A necessary but unfortunate part of this process is that we sometimes must discontinue products, even a beloved item like Choco Taco. We know this may be very disappointing,” the statement said.

Malatino said he’s searched for Choco Tacos to stock his truck and has found enough in the area to surprise his loyal customers. 

“I have a few customers that have bought nothing but Choco Taco off of me. And they're so disappointed and upset. But I had stopped at a local convenience store today. And I saw that they had a few of them,” Malatino said. “I bought a few of them. I'm going to surprise them and I'm just going to give them a free Choco Taco, hoping it's not going to be their last. I'm hoping that you know, the power of the people will get Klondike to reassess their decision and bring the taco back.”

Do you want to taco’ bout this with Klondike? Here are four ways to contact the company.