Course Dessert Region or state Philadelphia Serving temperature Cold | Place of origin United States Created by Alan Drazen Main ingredients Ice cream, sugar | |
Choco Taco is a brand of dessert food resembling a taco, consisting 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 product was invented in Philadelphia in the 1980s by Alan Drazen Senior Vice President of the Jack and Jill Ice Cream Company, but was first rolled out in 1984 when it became popular in mobile vending trucks and convenience stores. The ice cream snack was an immediate favorite of Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker. It made its first appearance in supermarkets nationwide by Good Humor-Breyers in Richmond, Virginia in 1996 as "America's coolest taco," at the Supermarket Industry Convention in Chicago.
Background
The "Choco Taco" is sold under the Klondike brand, marketed as "The Original Ice Cream Taco." The brand is sold by Good Humor-Breyers, a division of Unilever.
In 1998, Unilever introduced the Choco Taco to Italy and 1999 to Sweden with the name Winner Taco. In 2000 the Winner Taco was retired from the Italian/Swedish market. After two years of campaigning by Taco fans, on January 2014 Algida announced on their Facebook page the return of the Winner Taco in Italy. GB Glace selling the ice cream in Sweden has also re-introduced the ice cream in 2014.
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.