The owners of the century-old family shop that serves only two flavors — strawberry and pineapple — decided to come up with a special flavor for Easter. The Tasaka sisters announced their orange guri-guri in an ad in The Maui News on Wednesday and expected to still have quarts of their special orange delight in their freezer today.

Not so.

“We are really sorry,” said Cindy Tasaka-Ing, who runs Tasaka Guri-Guri with her sister, Gail Saito, on Wednesday afternoon.

The sisters felt bad that the quarts were snapped up so quickly. They don’t offer special flavors very often but said they plan to bring back the orange version in the summer.

Beverly Antes and John Dave Pante of Kahului pose with cups of guri-guri outside the landmark Tasaka Guri-Guri on Wednesday in the Maui Mall.

An hour-and-a-half after the shop opened Wednesday, the women already had sold 40 quarts, with some customers grabbing four quarts at a time to share with family.

Tasaka-Ing said they made “as much as we could” — several hundred quarts, she estimated. The quarts sold for $7.50, with no individual cup sales, and no phone or pre-orders.

Tasaka-Ing did not know why there was such a run on the orange guri-guri, which was last offered about two years ago. The only word of its availability, besides The Maui News ad, was a mention on the Tasaka Guri-Guri Instagram account, which has 136 followers.

Perhaps people were curious. Kerwin Iwahori of Wailuku showed up Wednesday morning after seeing the ad. When Tasaka-Ing described the flavor as tasting similar to a Dreamsicle, Iwahori’s reaction was “oooh.”

Iwahori queried the Tasaka sisters about the green guri-guri, another flavor offered periodically. Tasaka-Ing said that the green guri-guri, with a lime flavor, was offered last year for St. Patrick’s Day.

The special flavors sometimes make an appearance for holidays, Tasaka-Ing said, adding that they try to be unpredictable.

“We kind of lazy,” she said with a laugh.

Work began last week on the orange guri-guri. “It’s not that hard,” said Tasaka-Ing. The flavors just needed to be switched out of a special machine.

But they did have extra work during the busy public school spring break last week and the University of Hawaii break this week.

While different flavors drive up business, Tasaka-Ing said they plan to stick to their tried and true strawberry and pineapple. The guri-guri recipe, which could be 90 years old, was concocted by Gunji Tasaka and remains a family secret. Tasaka-Ing did say that guri-guri used to be mixed in canisters, but mixing machines currently are being used.

Gunji’s father, Jokichi Tasaka, began Tasaka Confectionery Store in Kahului near the railroad tracks more than 100 years ago. Gunji Tasaka’s sons, Henry and Setsuo, took over the business.

After Henry Tasaka’s death and Setsuo’s retirement, Henry’s daughters, Tasaka-Ing and Saito, took over.

Tasaka-Ing does not recall her father and uncle inventing different flavors. Last year’s inspiration for the green guri-guri was Natalie Nishimura of Kahului Florist; she wanted a taste of the lime treat. The florist was located near Tasaka’s in the Maui Mall for many years but moved in 2016.

The Tasaka sisters have long made guri-guri in different flavors, but reserve these specialties for family. Today, there will be only strawberry and pineapple — no orange.

Tasaka’s regular hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, but the shop will close at 4 p.m. on Good Friday, at 5 p.m. Saturday and be closed Easter Sunday.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.