Klondike kills the Choco Taco, which was created in Philadelphia, but suggests it could come back

The Choco Taco has been satisfying sugar cravings across the country for nearly four decades with its distinctive mix of sweetness and crunch.

It is so popular, congressional staffers have updated the Choco Taco Wikipedia page repeatedly during work hours, and employees at the Bureau of Land Management demanded 24-hour access to the cold treat during Burning Man in 2015.

But soon, you won’t be able to find the silver-wrapped treats at the store or your neighborhood ice cream truck.

After rumors of the Choco Taco’s demise spread across social media, Klondike company confirmed on its website it’s discontinuing the popular treat, which is sold individually and in four-packs.

“Over the past 2 years, we have experienced an unprecedented spike in demand across our portfolio and have had to make very tough decisions to ensure availability of our full portfolio nationwide,” the company wrote on its website. “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.”

If you hurry, you still might find packages of Choco Tacos at your grocery store, as businesses move through their inventory. And they might not ultimately be gone for long. On Tuesday afternoon, Klondike suggested on Twitter it might bring back the beloved dessert in the future.

“We’re working hard to find a way to bring Choco Taco back to ice cream trucks in the coming years,” Klondike wrote in response to a fan complaining about the treat being discontinued.

Fans of the Choco Taco in Philadelphia might be surprised to discover the treat was invented right here by a former ice cream truck driver.

In 1983, Alan Drazen was working for Jack & Jill Ice Cream, where his job was to supervise ice cream trucks. As he told Eater on the YouTube series First Person, Mexican food was the fastest-growing segment of the food industry at the time, and the taco was “the most recognizable shape.”

“It started out with a lot of my friends across the country selling it on ice cream trucks. It just grew from that,” Drazen said. But his big break was persuading Taco Bell to start selling Choco Tacos.

“That’s when I really knew we had something,” Drazen said.

Drazen did not respond to a request for comment.

In 1989, Unilever — which owns Good Humor — bought Gold Bond, a Wisconsin company that was the go-to manufacturer for a number of ice cream brands, including Jack & Jill. Unilever purchased Klondike in 1993, which is why the Choco Taco is marketed under the famed “What would you do ...” brand.

Jack & Jill, which remains family-owned and based in Moorestown, still owns the patent for the Choco Taco, since Drazen was an employee when he invented the popular treat. The company did not immediate respond to a request for comment, so maybe there’s hope for a return?

If Jack & Jill isn’t interested, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian — apparently a devoted Choco Taco fan — offered to buy the rights to “keep it melting away from future generations’ childhoods.”

Disappointed Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) jokingly threatened to introduce legislation to mandate the continued manufacture of Choco Tacos.

“Tomorrow I am introducing legislation to invoke the Defense Production Act to mandate the continued manufacture of Choco Tacos,” Murphy wrote on Twitter. “Please call your Senator and demand they co-sponsor.”