Origins of the viral Dubai chocolate, now helping drive up pistachio prices

However, it’s not just the rising demand that has fuelled the nuts’ prices. We explain.

First, what is Dubai chocolate?

Sarah Hamouda, the founder of Dubai’s FIX, created the chocolate bar in 2021 and called the flavour “Can’t Get Knafeh of it”. As the name suggests, it was inspired by the Middle Eastern dessert Knafeh or Kunafa. It is made using vermicelli or shredded pastry sheets and filled with sweet cream cheese, topped with sugar syrup and pistachios.

The FIX chocolate includes pistachio cream and other kunafa-inspired flavours, with the bar featuring bright yellow, blue and green designs resembling paint splotches.

Hamoud and her husband, Yezen Alan, grew up in the UK, with roots in Egypt, and moved to the UAE around a decade ago. Hamouda said the idea came to her when she craved a specific flavour while she was pregnant.

For many months, their brand saw limited sales. They sent samples to social media influencers, including Maria Vehera, whose December 2023 TikTok video of her trying the chocolate has now earned more than 120 million views. Hamouda told The New York Times that they subsequently received more than 30,000 orders. The chocolate bar’s distinct pistachio flavour, something rare in dishes outside the Middle East, and the crunchy texture have been highlighted as its unique selling points.

In 2024, “Dubai chocolate” was one of the biggest search terms on Google in the Food and Drinks recipe category. Today, the brand releases the handmade product in limited batches and exclusively through the online food delivery company Deliveroo in the UAE. CNN reported in June 2024 that the 200-gram chocolate bars retailed for $20 (Rs 1,707) each, with Deliveroo opening sales for around 500 units at 5 pm daily.

However, brands big and small have emerged globally and created imitations to cater to the high demand. Premium Swiss chocolate brand Lindt made a limited edition with a few hundred bars, which reportedly sold out in one day. At £10 (around Rs 1,100), it was almost double the cost of other Lindt bars.

Some stores in the UK have limited the number of bars per person to ensure stocks last. Food outlets have also increasingly incorporated the pistachio and kunafa flavours into other desserts.

And where do pistachio prices stand now?

Pistachios have historically been grown in and around Iran. Through trade, they spread to southern Europe and other parts of the Middle East, as the crop requires a hot, dry climate. Today, the United States is the biggest producer in the world, with 99 per cent of the country’s cultivation concentrated in California. According to The FT, “Iran, the world’s second-largest producer, exported 40 per cent more pistachios to the UAE in the six months to March 2025 than it did over the full 12 months before that, according to Iran’s customs office.”

Beyond the viral chocolate, pistachio availability is also constrained by low production in the US this year. The FT reported that California’s supply went from more than 1,400 mn pounds in 2023-24 to under 1,200 mn pounds in 2024-25.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, the current crop is 26 per cent smaller than last season, “reflecting an off-year in alternate bearing production.” This refers to a natural tendency of plants to produce a higher-than-average crop one year, followed by a lower-than-average crop the next year. It further noted that acreage for pistachio cultivation has increased nearly fivefold in the last two decades in California, with a significant rise in 2018.