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Behind the 'Dubai Chocolate' phenomenon, a (hyper) sweet delight in limited quantity

These pistachio-filled chocolate bars sold at exorbitant prices have been making waves on social media culinary circles for more than a year.

Behind the 'Dubai Chocolate' phenomenon, a (hyper) sweet delight in limited quantity

Dubai chocolate is causing a sensation. (Credit: Fix)

An adage says that "scarcity gives value to a thing." Who knows if Sarah Hamouda, the founder of the Dubai chocolate shop Fix, gets up every day with this in mind, but in any case, the effects are certainly visible. Her XXL chocolate bars, which tantalized the internet last winter, continue to provoke unreasonable excitement.

The Anglo-Egyptian entrepreneur based in the Emirates hasn't changed her recipe or her strategy, ensuring her products are sold in very limited quantities. Her flagship argument, the bar "Can’t get Knafeh of it," is still composed of a curious mixture of pistachio cream, tahini, and crispy shred-like strands, meant to recreate the taste of the famous Levantine dessert, all coated in chocolate.

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The recipe first took TikTok by storm after a young culinary influencer, Maria Vehera, filmed herself tasting the dessert, before being followed by a legion of followers making loud tasting noises to emphasize that the cream contains an extremely crunchy element despite its gooey appearance.

"One of the factors explaining the virality of this chocolate is the amount of knafeh and cream that the bar contains, and which, when broken, spreads like a dense river of flavors," explained Marcelo Gutierrez, an agricultural engineer specializing in chocolate production long-based in the UAE. According to legend, Hamouda invented this recipe while pregnant, seeking to combine all the culinary extravagances she was craving in one single piece.

Chocolate cravings

Since the trend established itself and spread on social media, many netizens exchanged tips and tricks to get hold of the much-coveted delicacy. Because the 38-year-old mother, faithful to her demanding business model, does not include any permanent stores and focuses on centralized production in a kitchen solely dedicated to delivery, with orders possible only a few hours a day.

It is rumored that the entrepreneur received plenty of opportunities to expand her business into international franchises, like in New York, which she has always declined. Enough to drive Salman, a Lebanese entrepreneur in Dubai, crazy. Intrigued by this gargantuan flavor surge – noting that Fix offers a white chocolate bar filled with cheesecake-flavored speculoos spread, or "Cereously Chewsy," a milk chocolate bar stuffed with Nutella-flavored caramel brownies, custard, and cereals – the young man tried various tactics to snag the golden ticket provided by this 2.0 chocolate shop. He often sets an alarm a few minutes before orders open.

"But stocks sell out in a minute," said Salman. "There was a period when my attempts only succeeded once in seven tries." And it was not the price of the bar, now around $18, that discouraged him. "If it cost $100, I’m sure they’d sell as much, if not more," he stated.

Pistachio between two chocolate bars. Photo Fix.

Beyond just cocoa, the tablet, adorned with an abstract design, showcases a window of Dubai: "Visually, it's captivating, and it’s a sensory experience. When you think of Dubai, you think of luxury, flashiness, materialism, but also service ease. This tablet condenses all that."

Yet, the chocolate craze has somewhat faded in his eyes: "It's very heavy, very calorific. It's a very addictive experience, but I'd prefer dark and less sweet chocolate."

To avoid "this diabetes crisis from the first square," Jade, a Franco-Lebanese who tasted "Can’t get Knafeh of it" during her stay in Dubai, would not renew the experience. An element that is, however, part of the brand’s entire reputation according to chocolatier Marcelo Gutierrez. "The country, being in competition for world records, people like these somewhat exaggerated dimensions. Previously, some local brands produced eight to 10 g chocolates containing a line of knafeh and a second line of cream or pistachio paste. The originality of this recipe lies in the enormous proportions of these elements."

Fantasies and derivatives

No information is marked on the packaging of these tablets, the recipe is kept secret by Fix’s founder. But in Dubai and elsewhere, textures similar to the firm’s popular tablets keep cropping up on stalls. As the famous Swiss brand Lindt releases a limited edition, almost identically replicating Sarah Hamouda's knafeh chocolate visual, the tablets in question sell like hotcakes.

Multiple variations for the same recipe. Photo Fix

"They sell out within an hour," said a seller at a Parisian shop.

"We already offered chocolates filled with almond and pistachio paste. But we recently launched a strategic praline pistachio range that closely resembles the Dubai chocolate," stated an employee of another renowned chocolate house based in Paris.

In Germany, imitation attempts have led to a legal clarification. The Cologne regional court ruled Monday that the term "Dubai chocolate," despite its growing popularity in the country, can only be used for treats produced in Dubai itself, and not in Turkey as often happens, to avoid misleading consumers, declared the court.

The plaintiff Andreas Wilmers, who sells Fix brand chocolate in Germany, also issued legal warnings against Lindt for selling chocolate labeled as "Dubai chocolate." Debates are unlikely to upset the Emirati royal family, which sees the global reach of the chocolate brand as favorable advertising for their tourism strategy. The Minister of Defense and Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed al-Maktoum, even entered into a collaboration with the Fix brand.

This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.

An adage says that "scarcity gives value to a thing." Who knows if Sarah Hamouda, the founder of the Dubai chocolate shop Fix, gets up every day with this in mind, but in any case, the effects are certainly visible. Her XXL chocolate bars, which tantalized the internet last winter, continue to provoke unreasonable excitement.The Anglo-Egyptian entrepreneur based in the Emirates hasn't changed her...