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Associated Press

Some flavour crazes flirt with us and fade. Others stay and make themselves at home.
It is too soon to tell for sure, but the Dubai chocolate movement seems to have put down roots and is spreading at a brisk clip. The sweet flavours and thick texture that have made Dubai chocolate bars a hit are morphing into other kinds of confections, too.
The original and now-classic Dubai chocolate bar was created by Fix Chocolatier in the United Arab Emirates in 2021, and by 2023, it had exploded on social media.
Rich and indulgent, it features a thick, milk chocolate shell usually encasing a creamy pistachio (and often tahini) filling mixed with crispy, shredded, filo-like pastry called kataifi.

Global brands and small bakeries alike are riffing on the concept, translating it to croissants, milkshakes and more. Fillings range from peanut butter and jelly to s’mores to matcha.
“I don’t call this a ‘trend’ any more – it’s a whole new thing,” said Din Allall, whose family business, The Nuts Factory, has about 150 stores in the United States selling nuts, dried fruits and sweets.
The craze has even contributed to a pistachio shortage this year, the Iranian nut producer Keinia has reported. It said the primary reason for the shortage is “the explosive surge in demand fuelled by the viral ‘Dubai chocolate’ TikTok trend, compounded by underlying supply constraints”.
Globally, Google searches for “Dubai chocolate” shot up quickly at the start of the year before peaking in March. They have remained elevated since then, according to Google Trends.
Allall carries 12 flavours of Dubai chocolate bar, as well as chocolate- and pistachio-covered Dubai dates, Dubai-coated roasted nuts, a layered Dubai chocolate strawberry parfait, and a Dubai Golden Chocolate bar infused with edible 24-karat gold for US$79.99 (HK$620). His shops’ regular 180 gram (6.5oz) bars sell for US$18.99.
It is not just the flavours that make Dubai chocolate different, Allall says, but the bar’s structure too – “huge, thick, with lots of filling”.
American supermarket chain Trader Joe’s carries a Dubai chocolate bar made by Patislove. Restaurant chain Ihop introduced a limited-time Dubai pancake stack in some locations in August.
Baskin-Robbins has some Dubai-inspired ice cream products on its menu, while Costco sells a range of Dubai chocolate confections, including a Dubai chocolate cake. Walmart and TV shopping company QVC also sell Dubai chocolate.
Swiss chocolate giant Lindt has a bar and drew crowds when it debuted a limited number of them in Europe last autumn.

“For me, it’s the crunch,” said Erica Lefkowits, who was buying some Dubai chocolate recently in Dublin, Ireland. “The chocolate is soft and melty, and the filling is creamy, and then the crunch of the kataifi. It’s all about the texture. Plus, it’s sugar.”
She was a little annoyed at the price, which was higher than your average chocolate bar. Part of Dubai chocolate’s appeal, though, is the way it feels simultaneously indulgent and worldly. Pistachios, rose, saffron and cardamom bring luxury, travel and exoticism to the chocolate party.
In the US, Dubai chocolate is still a relatively niche product. In the year ending June 28, US retail sales of pistachio-filled chocolate totalled US$822,900, according to the market research company NielsenIQ. By comparison, sales of all chocolates totalled US$16.3 billion.
Still, demand for Dubai chocolate is growing much faster than demand for other varieties. Unit sales of pistachio-filled chocolates were up 1,234 per cent compared to the previous year, NielsenIQ said, while unit sales of all chocolates remained almost the same.
Stew Leonard Jnr, chief executive of Stew Leonard’s grocery stores in New York, said that, despite the price, he has “never seen a single item sell like this in my 50 years of retailing”.
Leonard said his chain introduced the BeeMax Dubai chocolate bar in March, watched it fly out the doors, and then launched its own house-branded version, made by the company Chocopologie.
The chain has introduced a Dubai chocolate gift box for the holidays, which includes teeny Dubai ice cream cones, Dubai pralines and two bars.
Some other widely distributed brands in the US are Moda, Magno and Leonessa. Other iterations of Dubai chocolate include Chocolove’s little candies and Matteo’s Coffee Syrups’ sugar-free chocolate coffee syrup.


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Lifestyle

Food & Drink

From Walmart shelves to Costco cakes to croissants and pancakes, Dubai chocolate is turning up all over as brands get creative


From Walmart shelves to Costco cakes to croissants and pancakes, Dubai chocolate is turning up all over as brands get creative.


Middle East

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Costco

Walmart

How the Dubai chocolate craze took over the world and is now going beyond bars

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From Walmart shelves to Costco cakes to croissants and pancakes, Dubai chocolate is turning up all over as brands get creative

From Walmart shelves to Costco cakes to croissants and pancakes, Dubai chocolate is turning up all over as brands get creative