Dubai chocolate () is a chocolate bar containing a filling made with kadayif and pistachio. It was created by Emirati Fix Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai, and was popularized in 2024 by influencers on social media, especially TikTok.
Description.
Dubai chocolate is a filled milk chocolate bar. The filling is a sweet cream made from pistachios mixed with tahini and finely chopped kadayif. Fillings range in consistency from finely ground to a paste.
Origin.
Fix Dessert Chocolatier was created by Sarah Hamouda in 2021, who, inspired by her pregnancy cravings, began creating chocolate bars containing unusual fillings. Hamouda, who is British-Egyptian, had been based in Dubai since around 2015. Other sources credit her partner, the chef Nouel Catis Omamalin, as the creator.
Dubai chocolate gained popularity as manufacturers were facing high costs in producing cocoa and pistachio products. Due to the product's composition, manufacturing Dubai chocolate allowed them to keep costs down. Dubai was viewed as a trendy location among young people, particularly with social media influencers.
Launch.
Dubai chocolate was launched under the name "Can't Get Knafeh of It". Without a large marketing budget, Fix relied on influencers to promote the chocolate on social media, and many influencers filmed themselves trying and reviewing the chocolate. The chocolate interior's bright colors have been credited with contributing to some of the product's success, as the visual appeal created is important on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. It first gained popularity in 2024. Further demand was produced from consumer perceptions of the product as being mysterious.
Expansion.
As the product gained popularity, large scale manufacturers such as Lindt began to produce and market them as Dubai Chocolate. In Germany, an importer of a clone of Fix Dubai Chocolate issued a cease-and-desist letter to the manufacturer Lindt, Aldi and Lidl because it was not produced in Dubai. While geographical indications are in principle protectable under the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement, the United Arab Emirates has not signed the agreement. According to most legal scholars, the term "Dubai chocolate" is already a generic trademark in the EU market and does not contain any geographical indication.
In January 2025, a German court in Cologne decided that Aldi has to stop selling its product named "Alyan Dubai Handmade Chocolate" on the ground it might mislead consumers that the chocolate has been produced in Dubai while it is actually produced in Turkey. In the UK, the popularity of the Lindt variety of the chocolate was such that the supermarket chain Waitrose imposed purchase limits of two bars per customer.
Studies and allergens.
A study by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Consumer Protection tested eight imported samples of 'Dubai chocolate', five from the UAE and three from Turkey. It found that all eight samples were considered "defective". Five of the products sampled contained fats other than cocoa butter, which is not permitted in products labelled "chocolate" in Germany. The study also found that five samples were "unfit for consumption" due to contamination in the manufacturing process. Three samples were found to contain traces of undeclared sesame, usually as tahini. A screening also revealed high levels of mold toxins (aflatoxins).