Why Jell-O's Pudding Pops Were Unfortunately Discontinued

From Girl Scout cookies that were discontinued to 1990s snacks you forgot existed because they've been gone for so long, it's hard out there for Gen Xers, Millennials, and early Gen Zers trying to relive their childhood glory days through food. There's something to be said about nostalgia being the sweetest flavor, so it hurts when favorite treats from our younger years get taken off shelves and relegated to our memories. Such is the case for Jell-O Pudding Pops.

Who could forget these bars of frozen, delicious glory? In the 1990s, Jell-O was bringing in a cool $300 million annually on these treats, which were notably endorsed by Bill Cosby. Nowadays, however, they are nowhere to be found because Pudding Pops were discontinued on 2010. So, what happened?

Basically, there was a chain of unfortunate events. Making Pudding Pops got too pricey for Jell-O, which wasn't really a frozen food company and therefore had to dump a lot of overhead into keeping the pops frozen and transporting them. So, Jell-O sold the product to Popsicle, which, as a company, was much better poised to handle manufacturing and selling these desserts. Even though the company stopped making them a few years earlier, Jell-O confirmed in 2018 what eagle-eyed consumers had already suspected. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Jell-O posted that Pudding Pops had been "discontinued due to not enough consumers purchasing [them]."

One theory about why consumers — who once couldn't get enough of Pudding Pops — turned their backs on the frozen treats is that they weren't as good anymore. When Popsicle acquired the brand, there were complaints that Pudding Pops looked and tasted different. Historically, consumers have reacted poorly to changes in classic, beloved flavors: just look at the New Coke debacle.

The only bright spot when it comes to Pudding Pops nowadays is that there's no reason you shouldn't simply make them yourself at home –– because it's surprisingly easy. As per the official recipe on the Kraft Heinz website, all you need is instant pudding mix, cold milk, and popsicle molds. You simply whisk up the pudding, spoon or pipe it into the molds, and let them freeze. Voila ... you have classic Pudding Pops on demand. The recipe calls for chocolate pudding, but the beauty of this process is that you can use whatever flavor you want. Pistachio pudding pops? Why not? Butterscotch or coconut cream? Coming right up! You could, easily and cheaply, have enough Pudding Pops for an entire beach party — just keep them frozen by adding some salt to your cooler.