The World-Wide Sensation of Dubai Chocolate
Updated: Jul 7
Feb 12, 2026
Sarah Hamouda and Yezen Alani are a married couple that started this global phenomenon (FIX owners).
Sarah Hamouda and Yezen Alani didn’t know this chocolate would become this popular among social media. It first started when Sarah Hamouda had a pregnancy craving for her childhood snack. Then, the next day she told her husband that she wanted to start a chocolate business. She started experimenting with all of the elements of knafeh. Then decorated the chocolate shell with electric blotches of green and yellow. The Dubai Chocolate Bar was born!
The couple opened their online business in 2022, selling only one bar per week. The start was rough, but Maria Vehera, the famous TikToker, filmed a review of the bar. This led to tons and tons of orders from all over the world. At least 30,000 orders came in! It was too much that the delivery app they used crashed!
The global chocolate bar is so famous. According to the article, “Lindt, the Swiss chocolatier, even created a version for a limited release of 300 bars in December. (It sold out in a day)”(The New York Times). Now, Sarah Hamouda is moving on and creating a new flavor. It’s called “Catch Me If Pecan”. It’s a bar with caramelized pecans and cookies.
Pistachio Prices Skyrocket
A global influence comes with a cost. Pistachio prices go up significantly.
In under a year, U.S. pistachio prices went up from $7.65 to $10.30 per pound. However, this isn’t only because of the viral trend of chocolate, it is also because of California’s poor harvest. Pistachio trees usually alternate from light and heavy harvests, but it significantly produced less in 2024. In addition, the droughts made it harder to find high-quality nuts as producers.
Then, came the obsession and made the issue even worse. This new trend made the supply chain weaken as more people bought pistachios and products from pistachios to make this chocolate. Small-batch artisans and bakers bought pistachio oils, paste, and butter. According to the article, “Analysts at The Guardian, Financial Times, and other outlets now refer to Dubai chocolate as a market disruptor”(Compartes).
The timing of this trend disrupted the whole supply chain, especially when the stock was scarce.
As one industry reviewer said, “The pistachio market wasn’t built to handle this kind of fame.” Now every dessert with the slightest touch of pistachio has an unbelievably high price. This is what happened to the pistachio market as Dubai Chocolate became such a global sensation.
Lindt’s Own Launch
Lindt released a limited type of chocolate, their own Dubai Chocolate Bar!
The Lindt Dubai Style Chocolate was a major success! It was first launched in the Zurich airport and instantly thrived. Lindt soon escalated the situation and sold it in 100 more airports. According to the article, “As of November 2025, sales have surpassed 2.2 million tablets since launch”(Beverage Daily). The sale was hugely successful.
Lindt only made the Dubai Style Chocolate because of a TikTok intelligent apprentice. They saw the potential of how this would lead to the biggest rise of their business. They made 1,000 bars and sold it all in their German store. And history repeats itself in Switzerland and more. This led to such a great economical outcome.
Lindt values their collabs and relationships with other partners very deeply. They say that levaging is very important. And Lindt doesn’t stop there. They released a Dubai Style White Chocolate to keep the excitement up. Dubai Chocolate helped Lindt uncover a new chapter in their successful business.
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