0:02 The Dubai chocolate bar started off as a pregnancy craving. I had this idea of creating a dessert chocolate bar with different textures, different flavors. >> Sara Hammuda never expected it to become such a viral trend with thousands of businesses from restaurant chains like Shake Shack to local bakeries launching spin-offs all over the world. You can really feel the crunch in it and it's not super sweet either. >> Those who are making some of the key ingredients like kafei and pistachio cream are also seeing a boom. >> Sales grew like 1,800%. Which is pretty crazy from just one trend from one chocolate bar. >> So how did a chocolate bar that's made
0:49 and sold exclusively in Dubai turn into a global trend? Oh wow, look at that. >> Sara Hammuda was craving Middle Eastern desserts like kunaf when she had the idea for Dubai chocolate. >> Kappa was something that my mom used to you know cook at home and it was all about bringing those kind of flavors back back to life and in different ways. >> So in 2021 she and her husband invented a bar called can't get kafi off it. We were selling from the house, relying a lot on word of mouth. And then um came Maria, lovely girl, who reached out and she did a video of eating. I can't get can of a bar. >> That video, which has been viewed more
1:34 than 100 million times, transformed their business. >> There was just a queue of riders outside wanting. We had no chocolate, like nothing at all. At the same time, there's like thousands and thousands of people asking us to deliver to Argentina or like Mexico or like China. >> Now, fixed dessert chocoliers makes more than 500 bars a day by hand, and they're sold just for a few hours through one delivery app in the UAE. A 200 g bar sells for around $18. That's about double the price of Cadbury Fruit and Nut. seeing people from around the world doing their own versions. Um whether it's kids, adults, it's just been insane. >> And jumping on the trend appears to be safe from a legal perspective.
2:21 The name Dubai Chocolate isn't registered because it's considered a generic or geographic term. Under most trademark laws, location-based product names can't be owned. That's why saying Dubai chocolate is kind of like saying New York cheesecake or French baguette. On top of that, recipes aren't protected as intellectual property unlike books and art. The only way to guard them is to keep them a secret. So while Fix is the original creator, other businesses like Lind and Trader Joe's are legally free to come up with their own versions and sell them as Dubai style bars. And that's what Bulchi is doing in Turkey.
3:09 The company says they were the first to introduce the bar in the country on an industrial scale. At this factory, they're making 1 and 12 million pieces of chocolate or 50 tons every day. I mean, I can't even imagine that. But sometimes my job is a lot of fun cuz I've just been eating chocolates all day long. Hussein and Denise Axo is the second generation owner of Buli and came up with the recipe for their Dubai chocolate along with his sister. >> After eight unsuccessful trials, in the ninth trial, we made it. Now we are producing that recipe. Currently, it is the most popular category of our portfolio. >> Just a few months after launching in June 2024, sales soared 400%. And to
3:57 meet demand, this factory has been heavily automated. First, high-tech cameras check if the molding trays are clean that you can see the particle size and also the shape everything can be detected. >> Then molds are heated up to around 78° F. >> Otherwise, it would be uh impossible to spread the chocolate. The chocolate and pistachio filling are deposited in what Denise calls a one-shot system. >> Most of our competitors tend to use lower amounts of pistachios or artificial flavors, aromomas, colorings. But in our chocolate, it is only the pistachio that colors and flavors the product. >> The filled molds go through a vibration
4:43 machine that spreads the mixture evenly and removes air bubbles. Finally, a cooling tunnel drops the product's temperature to 57° F. Then, the chocolates are sent off to another floor for packaging. They've got spears, bars, and gift boxes, and boxes that are taller than me. Exports are a big part of the business. About 60% of the chocolate is shipped to 72 countries including the US where it's sold at Amazon, Walmart, and local grocery stores. >> In the beginning, it was a super hype in the Turkish market. Then the trend is
5:29 shifted to European part of the world and now it is super trendy in the US. >> Now they have at least five different flavors of the bar. Despite the variations, the chocolate bowl she uses always remains the same. It comes in liquid form from Barry Calib, a Swiss Belgian company which is the biggest chocolate maker in the world. Here it's stored in these giant tanks. >> It smells super delicious. Like very creamy creamy chocolate. Yeah. And this one it contains three tons. We even have a bigger one. The cocoa beans Boli uses are mostly sourced from West Africa. The region grows nearly 70% of the
6:15 world's cocoa. And in 2024, just as Dubai chocolate prices started trending, global cocoa prices hit record highs, topping more than $12,000 per ton. That's nearly triple from the year before. The climate crisis is to blame for much of the spike. Extreme heat and erratic rainfall in West Africa caused cocoa crops to shrivel resulting in smaller harvests. And that's had a domino effect on Dubai chocolate suppliers. Another ingredient that's flying off shelves is shredded fileo or katifi. >> We always just made the product because it's part of our heritage and there's an ethnic community that buys it. But then
7:02 when Dubai chocolate exploded, then it became like one of our best sellers. >> Dei helps her family run KTOS foods, a second generation business in New Jersey. They make all kinds of Greek goodies from pa to traditional pastries and of course kafi. The recipe is simple, flour and water, no yeast. >> The dough mix is so different than bread. Bread is alive. Uh this is totally different. Demiy's dad, Steven, has been making this for decades. >> I do remember uh as a a youngster, 10 and 12 and years old, growing up in my dad's business, that um there was just a hot plate and he would spin it with a pedal on the floor and it would drip and it would just spin around.
7:48 >> The batter is filtered and drops onto a plate about 20 ft in diameter that's heated to 400° F. The dough gets squeezed out in continuous long strands. >> It's like hair, like a wig. >> The business initially had just one of these kayfi production lines, but they built another to keep up with the new demand. Each runs 24/7 and makes 250 lbs of batter an hour. We make raw katifi dough and then we also make chocolate katifi which is just made with cocoa powder and we also make a toasted katifi which is more brown in color and that is typically used in these Dubai chocolate recipes.
8:34 >> Both Steven and Dei prefer rawi. >> You can wrap it with shrimp. You can wrap it around your favorite things. You can toast it. You can crumble it. You can do whatever you want with it. And food experts say cultural curiosity about products like kafi has also contributed to Dubai chocolate success. We're seeing consumers like are increasingly seeking out international flavors. And so in a really affordable accessible way Dubai Chocolate Bar let them kind of experience a little bit more of this global flavor. >> Even the pistachio cream that forms the filling isn't an ingredient Americans were used to. In the past, you know, we had to explain to people what our products were, how to use it, why it exists. >> Malia and her husband Ahad Sardar
9:20 Chashkuru own Pepper Tux Farms, a popular maker of pistachio cream. When Dubai Chocolate went viral, their online sales tripled overnight. >> So, we we have been in operation for uh 3 years before the trend hit. We had stock which is which was a great uh thing to have during that uh first summer in 2024 when this thing blew up like crazy. >> People were scrambling to buy pistachios of all grades and the demand was just so high that people were competing to get high quality pistachios, us included. Like Bulchi, the couple sourced their pistachios from Turkey where Aud is from. The climate in the southern province of Gazianep is ideal for growing them. The soil, the water, the heat, and the atmosphere plays a big
10:06 role in how a product will actually end up tasting. >> The harvest starts at the crack of dawn before it gets unbearably hot. It's a family affair. Everything here is handpicked, unlike at many large-scale pistachio farms in the US. But the supply isn't always steady because pistachios are naturally alternative bearing, which means one season may result in an ample crop while the next could be much smaller. Aut knows this firsthand. Last year, this farm produced about 220,000 lb of pistachios, but this year the yield was just 33,000 lb, made worse by extreme
10:55 weather. Definitely climate change is making a an impact on u output for sure. Uh we had a bit of a frost uh this year in March when the tree already had the blossoms on it and that's never good for the flower. >> Today farmers are separating the highest quality nuts. Then it's time for shelling. >> We haul it back to a facility to remove the otter shells with a lot of friction and water. And then once that's done, it's laid out on huge lots to be sundried. The most important step is roasting. How many degrees you roast the product and for how long, how many times determines a
11:40 lot of different things. So you might be going for a beautiful green color, that's when you really want to roast it slow. Then the nuts are ground up in a closed machine and mixed with milk, sugar, cocoa butter, and a few other ingredients to form a thick cream. While Aud swears by his Turkish pistachios, it's the US that leads global production, supplying more than 60%. Iran, which produces 17%, is a distant second, followed by Turkey at around 11%. China is the top buyer, but the country recently imposed tariffs on American grown nuts, which led US imports to drop by over 50% in the first half of 2025. That's opened the door for Iran and
12:26 Turkey, both known for prioritizing quality over quantity. >> That is why we choose antip pistachios, and that is why we believe that they're so far superior than pistachios from Iran, Italy, or California. Currently, Pepperjax produces about 1 and a.5 million of these smaller jars of pistachio cream a year. That 7 oz version is available for around $10. >> Uh Wegman's is one of our top top top retailers. Whole Foods, again, top retailer. Now, we're launching for a limited time at Costco regions. Even restaurants that never needed pistachio cream are adding it to their kitchens, like Shake Shack, which launched a milkshake.
13:13 >> I think the unique thing about the Dubai chocolate bar is that it's it's just as much textural as it is flavor. We wanted to stay true to those really iconic and delicious ingredients. >> The chain debuted the shake in Dubai, but also wanted to add it to menus in the US. So that's where from a supply chain perspective, the work really started looking around the United States to find equal quality pistachio paste, dark chocolate, shredded filow dough that truly replicated what we were serving in Dubai. >> Within 6 weeks, they launched it in New York, LA, and Miami. One of their fastest rollouts ever. >> And so our ability to turn this around rather quickly and capitalize on that trend is ultimately what I'm most proud of. The limited edition milkshake cost around $10 in the US. That's $5 more
14:01 than the average cost of a plain chocolate shake at Dairy Queen. And it was a huge hit. >> Fact that this was selling out within minutes of it being on the menu um here in New York and around the country was totally unexpected um and was not something that I think we were prepared for. >> Currently, you can find everything from Dubai style donuts to strawberry cups and even croissants. There are certain items here that we may switch out over time, but I can't imagine not having it. It's more popular than the triedand-true almond croissant. >> That's Keith Conn, the owner of New York's famous bakery or washers. >> Morning, Issa. How are you? >> Welcome. >> How's everything? So, since 1916, we've been here. Uh, and I've been in the
14:47 bakery business since I'm 24 years old. Orwashers is known for its Jewish pastries, but they couldn't ignore the popularity of Dubai chocolate. I like halva very much and I have since a kid and the Dubai chocolate reminded me very much of hala and everyone likes the filo dough that crunchiness. So if I had to think of something. Their croissant is filled with chocolate batons. Then bakers add pistachio cream. The one or washers uses is actually from pepper tucks. >> So you have the American pistachios that are grown out in California, but if you ever had the Iranian pistachios or Turkish, they're different.
15:34 >> Next, it's mixed with toasted kafi. >> It's good workout. See how it's like becoming one here. >> Croissants are not an easy product to make consistently. And it's really it's it's a little bit of an art. >> The tops are drizzled with chocolate and sold for $6.50 each. >> A lot of times social media promotes things that aren't that good. In this case, this is delicious. It's always going to work. I think it's going to be a staple. >> I've seen this made from start to finish and it's nearly lunchtime, so I think I can justify eating this now. >> After we filmed, the bakery offered this batch free to customers. >> It looks incredible. Incredible. Here's one for you. >> Okay. Uh, cheers. >> Enjoy the Cheers.
16:19 >> Oh my god. >> Um, I thought it was amazing. Me and the baby boy approved. So, no, it's really good. I love pistachio, too. So, good ice cream. >> Since 2024, Tik Tok views with the hashtag Dubai chocolate bar have increased by over 500% peaking in March 2025. Now, some influencers have even started making the chocolate as their side hustle, like Vanessa Leang in Saskatoon, Canada, who has 37,000 followers. By day, Vanessa is an oncology pharmacist. But at night, she designs and makes each of these by hand. Because the Dubai chocolate bar was such an, you know, elegant, elaborate thing, I wanted to make it into essentially the most big deal chocolate bar I could. So, I
17:06 thought, okay, what are the colors? What are the inspirations? I want there to be gold. I want there to be green. I want it to be really luxurious, hand painted, a marble look on it. >> At first, Vanessa transformed her garage into a makeshift chocolate factory. Now, she makes these in her own customuilt kitchen. >> I did a turmeric uh infusion for the toasting of the kafi, which was really nice. And then that pistachio bran brought in that extra crunch, which was just delicious. And then instead of just the pistachio cream, I also incorporated some gold chocolate into the ganache. So I made it into like a gold chocolate turmeric kafi combination. And it it was it was so delicious. Vanessa sells her premium taste of Dubai creations for as much as $125 each. And these bars are
17:55 also Instagrammable like most Dubai chocolate products. >> It's visually distinctive. videos have, you know, textures and fillings. Got kind of like that creamy inside but like a hard exterior and that's, you know, perfect for your ASMRs. There's all those sounds that consumers just love to hear. >> And like the original, Vanessa's bars aren't available all the time. >> Exclusiveness is always just like a really good way to add to that level of premiumness because you're one of the more select people who got a hold of their product. But most chocolateers do ramp up production for the holidays as sales tend to sore. >> Dubai chocolate is basically a seasonal item for us. When it comes to like
18:40 making a for example a pecan pie or apple pie or you know pumpkin pie, these are all seasonal. >> New York bakery and desserts is located in the heart of Time Square, but the family that owns it is, you guessed it, Turkish and gets most of their ingredients from there. Pistachio comes from Turkey. Chocolate comes from Turkey. Kadiv comes from Brooklyn. There's a retired old military Turkish guy who we get it from. Their larger bar costs nearly $20. And during the holidays, they sell about 2,000 a day. Most of their sales are driven by foot traffic, but in the summer they rely on online orders. >> It gets a little complicated to ship it cuz it's like 100° outside. It will start melting. Uh we have uh dry ice
19:27 that we use and then we have um the temperature proof packaging that we use but uh you know once it's like 110° it wouldn't last more than like a day in that >> but they plan on selling the chocolate for as long as the trend lasts. >> When people stop reacting I think we will you know slow down the numbers a little bit. Back in Dubai, Fix has been launching pop-ups in malls and places like Dubai airport where they sold more than 1.2 million bars in April 2025 alone. >> There isn't a word to even explain how I feel sometimes. But yeah, the the pinch pinch me moment is still happening >> and they still haven't forgotten their roots >> when I go to like you know any event
20:15 etc. I'm actually trying to buy something from local brands or homegrown brands that have just started because I remember being in that position and that feeling of someone buying something from us was was amazing. >> The company now sells at least 10 different kinds of bars. >> For us, honestly, it's uh flattering. It's it's good to see um whether big or small brands have uh tried to make their own take of of our Dubai chocolate. That is my favorite part.
