True luxury doesn’t always come from brands like Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Ferrari, and Rolls-Royce. Sometimes, the most exclusive pleasures in life are simply filled with pistachio cream and coated in crunchy chocolate.
A delicacy born in the desert. In 2021, British-Egyptian entrepreneur Sarah Hamouda, who’s based in Dubai, experienced a challenging pregnancy with her second daughter. The challenges weren’t due to medical issues but rather her intense cravings. Her husband had to visit numerous candy stores in Dubai to find the combination of flavors and textures that would satisfy his pregnant partner’s desires. Frustrated by the lack of a product that met her needs, Hamouda decided to create it herself and founded FIX Dessert Chocolatier.
In 2022, Hamouda began crafting her own chocolate bars, blending flavors that reminded her of her childhood. Living in Dubai, pistachio became a key ingredient in her recipes. “I wanted the FIX experience to be different. I wanted people, from the first bite, to relive moments from their past,” she explained in an interview with Arabian Business.
From local business to viral trend. At the end of 2023, FIX Dessert Chocolatier employed only two staff members and relied on word of mouth and product quality to sustain itself. However, everything changed when food influencer Maria Vehera featured FIX’s chocolate bar filled with pistachio cream and crunchy nut pieces in one of her videos.
Since then, the video has gained more than 103 million views, leading to a surge in popularity for Hamouda’s small local business, which now employs 20 people. The so-called “Dubai chocolate bar” has become a global sensation, the new “forbidden pleasure.” Hamouda told Arabian Business, “It still feels [like] a dream–I sometimes pinch myself.”
A local product at a very high price. Despite its newfound fame, FIX Dessert Chocolatier remains a small local business. The original product is only available in limited quantities in Dubai. This scarcity has led to a rise in imitators worldwide, with many food influencers teaching their followers how to replicate it at home.
Scarcity marketing has been highly effective, tapping into the limited availability of cocoa in the global market and the deliciousness of pistachio-filled chocolate bars. As a result, the viral treat has become a luxury item. A single one-pound bar can cost up to $20, especially if purchased from a local artisan shop.
Explosion of imitators worldwide. Fortune recently reported that Abu Khaled Sweets, a confectionery store in Berlin, has capitalized on the popularity of the Dubai chocolate by creating its own version. Owner Ali Fakhro shared that he had to experiment “several times” with different recipes to find the ideal combination of ingredients that achieved the desired creaminess and crunchiness for the pistachio filling. The breakthrough came through using knafeh, a traditional Arab dessert made with finely shredded dough, which helped him attain the right texture.
The product’s popularity has even attracted the attention of major brands, including Swiss chocolatier Lindt, which recently launched its own version of the Dubai chocolate bar. Priced at around $17 for a 150-gram bar, this exclusive variant debuted in Germany with only 1,000 numbered bars available. Customers braved long lines in the cold to secure a taste of the coveted chocolate.
Chocolate smuggling. The shortage and high demand for the Dubai chocolate bars have led to the emergence of a “black market” for these sweets, which are being smuggled across borders. According to Fortune, a 31-year-old man was arrested at customs for attempting to smuggle 45 kg of the chocolate treat from Switzerland to Germany.
Reports indicate that some customers who waited in line for hours to buy the Lindt version intended to resell it for a profit. One customer said, “I would never pay that much for this. It’s quick and easy money. This bar cost €15 [$16], but it can sell for almost €100 [$105]… There are lots of offers on eBay, up to €300 [$315].”
Image | FIX Dessert Chocolatier
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