A chocolate bar with a coarse, pale green filling has been taking over social media in recent months, to the extent that global pricks of one of one of its core ingringients has now. The pistachio-filled ‘dubai chocolate’, first solid by the uae-based fix dessert chocolatier in 2022, has taken a new life thanks to tiktok and other short video apps.

Several imitations have popped up since then. A Financial times Report last week cited traders who say a pistachio kernels (Obtoned after removing the shells) comes to $ 10.30 (or RS 879) A Pound Now, Compared To $ 7.65 (RS 653) A Year AGO.

Howver, it’s not just the rising demand that has fained the nuts’ pricks. We explain.

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First, what is dubai chocolate?

Sarah Hamouda, The Founder of Dubai’s Fix, Created the Chocolate Bar in 2021 and called the flavor “can ‘get knafeh of it”. As the name suggests, it was inspired by the middle Eastern deessrt 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 inscludes Pistachio Cream and Other Kunafa-Inspired Flavors, with the bar featuring bright yellow, blue and green designs Resembling Pint Splches.

Hamoud and her husband, Yezen Alan, Grow up in the uk, with Roots in Egypt, and moving to the uae around a decade ago. Hamouda Said the idea came to her when she has craved a specific flavor while she was pregnant.

For many months, their brand only saw limited sales. They sent sent samples to social media influencers, including Maria Vehera, Whose December 2023 tiktok video 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 flavor, something rare in dishes outside the middle east, and the crunchy texture has been highlighted as its unique points.

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In 2024, “Dubai Chocolate” was one of the biggest search terms on Google in the food and drinks recipe category. Today, the Brand release of the handmade product in limited batches and exclusively through the online food delivero company in the uae. Cnn reported in june 2024 that 200-gram chocolate bars retailed for $ 20 (Rs 1,707) Each, with deliveroo opening sales for around 500 units at 5 pm daily.

Howver, 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, What 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 actingly Incorpored the pistachio and kunafa flavors Into other deesserts.

And where do pistachio pricks stand now?

Pistachios have historically been grown in and around Iran. Through trade, they spray to southern Europe and other parts of the middle East, as the crop requests 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 the full 12 months beFore that, according to Iran’s customs.”

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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 small than last season, “reflecting an off-yar in alternate bearing production.” This refers to a natural tendency of plan to produce a high-thaan-average crop one year, followed by a low-thaan-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 rising in 2018.