Dubai Chocolate: a phenomenon born on social media!

It all started with a stroke of genius from Sarah Hamouda, an Anglo-Egyptian chocolatier based in Dubai. Obsessed with chocolate cravings during her pregnancy, she launched her own brand, Fix, in 2022 with a flagship product: the “Pistachio Kunafa” bar, dubbed “Dubai Chocolate,” directly inspired by knafeh, a traditional Levantine dessert. This milk chocolate bar would go on to experience a wildly unexpected success, thanks to its unique filling developed by a Filipino pastry chef, Nouel Catis — far too often overlooked in this story. The filling? A rich blend of pistachio cream, tahini, and crispy kadaif — golden strands of angel-hair pastry with irresistible crunch. In short, this indulgent, Nutri-Score-breaking treat lit up social media, particularly TikTok, following one pivotal tasting video in 2023 by world-famous food influencer Maria Vehera (@marrysweet884). In it, she takes an exaggerated, full-mouthed bite of the gooey, crunchy Dubai Chocolate bar. The video quickly went viral and has now surpassed 130 million views. Since then, the frenzy for Dubai Chocolate has gone global, often leading to it being out of stock and driving up its price, with some bars reportedly fetching several hundred euros each. Pistachio prices even spiked 20% in a single month, raising fears of a shortage. Riding this unprecedented wave, counterfeit bars and knockoffs of the Fix brand have begun flooding the market. Meanwhile, chocolatiers worldwide are launching their own versions: Swiss giant Lindt, iconic Lyonnais artisan Bernachon with a reimagined take, and even Lidl, which has released its own “Dubai Chocolate”... at a bargain price, of course.