![]() His birthday was in May and the one thing he wanted was a Combo pizza from Costco, but no dice. On Reddit, the grief was palpable: “I can’t take it anymore.” “My day is ruined and my disappointment is immeasurable.” “It’s my husband’s favorite and he really misses it. In 2018, for instance, the Polish sausage was laid to rest, and in its place rose such un-food-court-like items as an açai fruit bowl with granola. The food courts-which bring in a billion dollars of sales annually-had had previous casualties. In 2020, Costco, determining that its menu needed to be streamlined, quietly sent the Combo Pizza to its grave. Take, for instance, the case of Costco’s Combo Pizza, a nearly seven-hundred-calorie-per-slice pepperoni, sausage, green pepper, onion, and black olive concoction that was a favorite in the chain’s food courts for many years. Although we have always raged against the dying of the light, perhaps, during these feel-bad times, losing a simple delight feels especially unsettling. It is elemental in the human condition to rail against the indignity of mortality. We are Trader Joe’s customers too, after all.” We understand that it can be disappointing-devastating, even. Unlike Unilever, which didn’t flinch when issuing the death notice for Choco Tacos, Trader Joe’s acknowledges the pain one might experience when discovering that Chile Lime Mayonnaise has left this realm, writing, “We do not enter into the decision to discontinue a product lightly. “We have to manage our store space smartly,” the company’s Discontinued Product Feedback page says. ![]() This is often the case with Trader Joe’s, which is famous for having products materialize and dematerialize constantly. (Here’s to you, McAfrika, Coca-Cola Blak, Cheetos lip balm, Ore-Ida Funky Fries.) Sometimes, in the grocery business, for example, it’s more a matter of product overpopulation. Sometimes the product is a commercial bomb, and its termination is hardly a surprise. One day you’re enjoying your Trolli Road Kill Gummi Candy, or your Wonka Oompas, or your Altoid Sours, or your Doritos Guacamole-not just enjoying but developing a specific, urgent craving for them-and the next day, without so much as a fare-thee-well, they’re gone. How could Choco Tacos die in a world in which the Unicorn Dreamin’ Cone survived?Īlas, the world of junk food is cruel. The public response was emotional and full of angry denial. The announcement was cool and clinical: owing to supply-chain challenges and an “unprecedented spike in demand” for its offerings, Unilever was discontinuing a few items so that it could marshal its manufacturing efforts on a smaller set of tasty Klondike treats, such as the Krunch Bar and the Reese’s Mini Bar. The frozen novelty-vanilla ice cream, peanuts, fudge, and milk chocolate, conveyed in a taco-shaped cone-was killed off when its manufacturer, Unilever, decided to simplify its Klondike product line. This story was reported from Los Angeles.There was much rending of garments and high-pitched wailing at the recent news that Choco Taco (1983-2022) was no more. The Associated Press contributed to this report. It was a welcome return for fans: Taco Bell used to sell Choco Tacos but took them off their menu in 2015. In February, the restaurant chain announced a collaboration with Klondike, testing Choco Taco sales at 20 locations in Los Angeles and Milwaukee. ![]() One place the Choco Taco might show up? Taco Bell. In a later tweet, the company said it was "working hard to find a way to bring Choco Taco back to ice cream trucks in the coming years." Klondike seemed to realize it had struck a nerve. ![]() Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, tweeted that he would invoke the Defense Production Act to mandate continued manufacture of Choco Tacos. "I’d like to buy the rights to your Choco Taco and keep it from melting away from future generations’ childhoods," Ohanian tweeted. RELATED: North Carolina Chick-fil-A faces backlash for offering to pay ‘volunteer’ workers in chicken sandwiches Multi-millionaire Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian called out Unilever on Twitter. Then there are horrifically bad inexcusable decisions like discontinuing the Choco Taco," one fan tweeted. "There are bad decisions, like getting a face tattoo or French kissing an alligator. The news of its demise sent some Twitter users into a meltdown. The Choco Taco, invented in 1983 by a former ice cream truck driver, is a waffle cone shaped like a taco shell filled with fudge-swirled ice cream. Klondike, which is owned by London-based Unilever, continues to sell cones, shakes and its signature Klondike bar nationwide.įOX Television Stations reached out Unilever for comment. ![]()
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