With the Dubai chocolate trend sweeping across the globe, American companies like Shake Shack and Crumbl have swiftly seized the opportunity to launch limited edition products, while other chocolate manufacturers have also introduced Dubai chocolate imitations.
Various versions of Dubai chocolate are being sold at Target, Costco, Amazon, and Trader Joe’s supermarkets, often selling out quickly. Trader Joe’s has even introduced its own version of Dubai chocolate.
Dubai chocolate combines flavors of chocolate, pistachios, and tahini, paired with flaky pastry, inspired by the Arabian traditional dessert Knafeh. According to BBC, the original version named “Can’t Get Knafeh of It” was exclusively launched by Fix Dessert Chocolatier in the UAE in 2022. Due to its popularity on social media, it is only available for two hours a day and often sells out within minutes.
Sarah Hamouda, the founder and CEO of Fix Dessert Chocolatier, stated in an interview with CNBC that the idea for “Dubai chocolate” originated in 2021 when she was pregnant, and she wanted to create a chocolate filled with a mixture of pistachio cream, kadayif (shredded phyllo dough), and tahini.
Hamouda said, “I had one thought in my head at that time: I want to create a chocolate that is essentially a dessert wrapped in chocolate but looks and feels like a chocolate bar.”
In December 2023, this chocolate became popular on social media. “Our weekly orders increased from one initially to now over a dozen or even fifteen,” she said. “It’s exciting, but at the same time, it makes you think, ‘Wow, what’s going on here?'”
Fix chocolate is only available in Dubai and is delivered twice daily through the local delivery service Deliveroo. The duty-free shops at Dubai International Airport also regularly stock it. It was reported that the shop sold over 1.2 million pieces in April with sales reaching $22 million.
However, the UAE is not a party to the international trademark treaty, making the “Dubai” chocolate brand unprotected, allowing any company to easily replicate this filled chocolate.
Chocolate manufacturer Lindt made a profit of $6.2 billion in the 2024 fiscal year and introduced a limited edition chocolate in December 2024, stating the development of a new permanent formula for Dubai chocolate to “meet the enormous demand.”
Shake Shack introduced a limited edition milkshake in April with a taste similar to Fix chocolate. Crumbl is developing a brownie derivative product. While Starbucks has not officially launched a product, it promoted a creative Dubai chocolate flavored drink suggested by a customer, which saw increased sales among Generation Z consumers. Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin’ under Inspire Brands have also introduced Dubai chocolate flavored desserts in other countries like Malaysia and the Netherlands, but it is unclear if they will introduce them to the American market.
New York-based dried fruit and nut store Nuts Factory claimed to be the first in New York City to introduce a similar chocolate. According to its CEO Din Allall, the chocolate underwent testing of different versions within a few days and was officially launched in July last year. These chocolates are all handmade, leading the company to implement a rule of one piece per customer in their stores during the summer due to high demand.
Allall stated, “People started calling non-stop, we couldn’t meet the demand, so we had to figure out every possible way to meet it, and now I feel like we are in a good place.”
The company used to produce only “a few hundred” pieces of chocolate daily. Now, with more flavors in the stores, more employees hired, and more machines purchased to meet demand, they produce “thousands” of pieces daily. Nuts Factory has also introduced other desserts inspired by Dubai chocolate.
This trend has been ongoing for 18 months, with more companies joining in. Trader Joe’s has just launched what could be considered the cheapest Dubai chocolate imitation, priced at $3.99 per piece.