One Viral Chocolate Bar Repriced the Global Pistachio Market
Fix Dessert Chocolatier's "Dubai chocolate" drove premium-kernel pistachio prices from ~$7.65 to ~$10.30 a pound and lifted UAE imports from Iran 40% — a demand shock from a single dessert.
TL;DR — A pistachio-and-knafeh chocolate bar from Dubai pushed pistachio prices from ~$7.65 to ~$10.30 a pound and triggered a worldwide shortage of premium kernels.
Single consumer products rarely move a global commodity. A luxury chocolate bar moving one is rarer still. But "Dubai chocolate" — milk chocolate packed with crispy kataifi pastry and pistachio cream — did exactly that, straining the pistachio supply chain hard enough to reach bakeries from Berlin to California.
The product
The original is "Can't Get Knafeh Of It," from Fix Dessert Chocolatier, founded in Dubai in 2021 by British-Egyptian entrepreneur Sarah Hamouda and her husband Yezen Alani. A TikTok clip in December 2023 cleared 120 million views and the line went vertical, per Compartés. UAE sales alone topped 1.2 million bars in the first three months of 2025.
The format is built for video: thick shell, audible crack, oozing green center. Once that footage existed, every chocolatier and supermarket wanted a version — and the demand landed on one input.
The supply shock
A dessert trend became a commodity story at the point of constraint. Pistachio stocks were already tight; a sudden global scramble for kernels tipped the market.
| Pistachio market signal | Change |
|---|---|
| Price per pound | ~$7.65 → ~$10.30 (year-on-year) |
| UAE imports from Iran | +40% (six months to March 2025) |
| US pistachio supply | –20% (12 months to February) |
Figures via FoodNavigator, which sourced the clearest read from a trader. "There wasn't much in supply, so when Dubai chocolate comes along, and chocolatiers are buying up all the kernels they can get their hands on, that leaves the rest of the world short," said Giles Hacking of nut trader CG Hacking, per FoodNavigator. The pinch is specific: the bar uses peeled, slivered "kernel" pistachios — the same premium grade the wider dessert trade runs on.
Incumbents piled in
The trend did not stay niche. Lindt shipped a limited-edition Mediterranean Pistachio bar in December 2024 that sold out in 72 minutes on TikTok Shop, per Compartés. By spring 2025, Crumbl Cookies had a Dubai Chocolate Brownie and a Dubai Chocolate Cheesecake. FoodNavigator counted at least a dozen brands running their own versions — alongside a wave of counterfeit and scam "Dubai chocolate" trading on the name.
Why it persisted
Most viral foods decay within a season. This one held because it combined three rarely co-occurring traits: a genuinely premium product (not a $2 novelty), a built-in luxury origin, and a texture that performs on camera. It also seeded a durable second wave — pistachio-flavored everything — that outlasted the bar.
The unposted cost sits downstream. When a single trend can move a global crop price by a third, the small bakeries and ice-cream makers who quietly relied on affordable pistachios absorb the bill.
FAQ
What exactly is Dubai chocolate?
A chocolate bar filled with crispy kataifi (kataifi/knafeh) pastry and pistachio cream, originally made by Fix Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai and launched in 2021. It went viral on TikTok in late 2023.
Did Dubai chocolate really cause a pistachio shortage?
It was a major driver. Surging demand for premium kernel pistachios helped push prices from about $7.65 to $10.30 a pound and drove a 40% jump in UAE pistachio imports from Iran, against an already-tight global supply.
How popular did it get?
The launch TikTok video passed 120 million views, more than 1.2 million bars sold in the UAE in early 2025, and Lindt's copycat bar sold out in 72 minutes on TikTok Shop.
Sources: FoodNavigator, Compartés journal, Entrepreneur.
Image: Ionenlaser, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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