# Dubai Chocolate > Dubai Chocolate is a 2022 chocolate bar by FIX Dessert Chocolatier filled with pistachio cream, tahini, and knafeh pastry that went viral on TikTok in December 2023, sparking global shortages. Dubai Chocolate is a viral chocolate bar filled with pistachio cream, tahini, and crunchy knafeh pastry that took over the internet after a TikTok video in December 2023 racked up over 125 million views. Created by FIX Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai in 2022, the bar sparked a global craze that caused pistachio shortages, supermarket rationing, and a wave of imitations from major brands. By mid-2025, "Dubai chocolate" had also become part of a broader meme trend mocking consumer culture, often paired with other viral products like Labubu toys and matcha drinks. ## Origin Sarah Hamouda, a British Egyptian chocolatier based in Dubai, created the bar in 2022 while pregnant. She wanted something that combined her craving for knafeh with pistachio, and the result was FIX Dessert Chocolatier's "Can't Get Knafeh Of It" bar[1]. Yezen Alani, co-founder of FIX, later described the international attention as "flattering and humbling" in a BBC interview[1]. The bar stayed relatively niche until December 2023, when TikTok influencer Maria Vehera posted a video of herself trying it inside her car. The clip showed her biting into the paint-splattered chocolate shell as pistachio cream oozed out with satisfying ASMR crunch sounds[1]. That video hit over 125 million views and turned the bar into a global sensation overnight[1]. - **Platform:** TikTok (viral spread), FIX Dessert Chocolatier website (product) - **Creator:** Sarah Hamouda (creator, FIX Dessert Chocolatier founder), Maria Vehera (TikTok influencer who made it go viral) - **Date:** 2022 (product), 2023 (viral), 2025 (meme trend) ## Overview Dubai chocolate refers to a specific style of chocolate bar: milk chocolate filled with pistachio cream, tahini, and shards of knafeh pastry, a traditional Middle Eastern dessert made from buttery phyllo strands[1]. The original bar, called "Can't Get Knafeh Of It," was made by Dubai-based FIX Dessert Chocolatier. What sets it apart from standard filled chocolates is the textural contrast. When you bite in, pistachio cream oozes out while the knafeh crumbles with an audible crunch, making it extremely photogenic and ASMR-friendly for social media[1]. The bar is only available through the Deliveroo app in the UAE at specific times (14:00 and 17:00), with roughly 500 bars produced daily[1]. This artificial scarcity, combined with its viral fame, turned it into one of the most hyped food products of the 2020s. By 2025, the term "Dubai chocolate" had expanded beyond the original bar to describe any pistachio-knafeh-chocolate combination, and eventually became shorthand in memes mocking trendy consumer products[3]. ## How It Spread After Vehera's viral TikTok, demand for the bar exploded far beyond what FIX could produce. Since the original bar stayed exclusive to UAE delivery, independent chocolatiers and major brands rushed to fill the gap[1]. Lindt and Turkish confectionery giant Ülker both launched their own versions[1]. London's Maison Samadi, a Lebanese-rooted UK chocolatier dating back to 1872, introduced "Dubai Viral Style Chocolate" and became the first to bring the format to the London market[1]. Nabil Chehab from Maison Samadi told the BBC that demand "far exceeded their expectations," crediting FIX's innovation of putting a "dessert in a chocolate bar"[1]. By late 2024, Dubai chocolate had spread to Christmas markets in Munich, supermarket shelves at Lidl in London, flea markets in Mumbai, and sweet shops across Istanbul[1]. The craze caused worldwide pistachio shortages and stockouts[1]. Supermarkets began rationing the bars, and people were caught smuggling them across borders[1]. Shake Shack and Starbucks both launched limited-edition Dubai chocolate collaborations[1]. The Starbucks version, a Dubai Chocolate Matcha Latte (a Grande Iced Matcha Latte with pistachio sauce and chocolate cold foam), went viral on social media in early 2025 through custom orders shared by content creators[2]. Delish reviewed it, noting that while the pistachio-matcha combination worked well, the drink couldn't replicate the knafeh texture that makes the actual bar special[2]. By mid-2025, Dubai chocolate had crossed over from food trend to meme fodder. On April 17, 2025, X user @gomenstruation posted a tweet mocking trend-chasing consumers: "Dude the way you use that digicam while drinking matcha with the Labubu hanging off your carabiner attached to your Japanese selvedge denim is so tuff twinnn," earning over 16,000 likes[3]. This kicked off a "slang overload" meme trend where people strung together trendy buzzwords like Dubai chocolate, Labubu, matcha, Crumbl Cookies, and Stanley Cups to satirize consumerism[3]. On June 5, 2025, TikToker @poison_bf posted a video set to Have A Nice Life's "Bloodhail" with the caption "I got my matcha, Dubai Chocolate, my Labubu, and my Murakami book. What should I get next, Mr. Algorithm," gaining over 172,900 likes[3]. By late June, TikToker @yezzuurr_ hit 177,900 likes with a SpongeBob meme captioned "Me and the boys getting the limited edition Dubai Chocolate Moonbeam Ice Cream Labubu flavored Crumbl Cookie with matcha in Weck Jars"[3]. ## How to Use Dubai chocolate works as a meme in two main ways: **As a food/product reference:** People typically share videos or photos of themselves trying Dubai chocolate bars (real or imitation), often emphasizing the ASMR crunch and pistachio ooze. The format usually involves a dramatic first bite on camera. **As a consumerism meme:** The more common 2025 usage involves listing Dubai chocolate alongside other trendy products (Labubu, matcha, Crumbl Cookies, Stanley Cups, Murakami books) in an absurdly long string to mock algorithm-driven consumption[3]. The joke is that the poster has assembled every possible trend into one sentence. The longer and more ridiculous the list, the better. Common formats include: 1. Write a tweet or caption listing 4-8 trendy items in a single breathless sentence 2. Pair it with a reaction image (SpongeBob running, a character looking overwhelmed) 3. Frame it as either sincere ("What should I get next, Mr. Algorithm") or mocking ("Me and the boys getting the limited edition...") ## Cultural Impact Dubai chocolate disrupted the global confectionery market in ways that caught industry analysts off guard. Euromonitor International tracked the trend as it created new demand categories and opened up markets for artisan Middle Eastern-style confections worldwide[1]. The pistachio shortage it triggered affected not just chocolate makers but bakeries, ice cream producers, and other food manufacturers who rely on pistachio supply chains[1]. The trend brought knafeh, a dessert that had been popular in the Middle East for centuries, to global mainstream awareness. As the BBC noted, "Dubai chocolate allows [food lovers] to sample this well-known dessert inside a chocolate shell," introducing the concept of a "dessert in a chocolate bar" to audiences who had never heard of knafeh[1]. Major brands treated it as a serious market opportunity. Starbucks saw an organic viral moment when customers created their own Dubai Chocolate Matcha Latte customization, turning a user-generated hack into a widespread ordering trend[2]. Shake Shack launched official collaborations[1]. By 2025, the meme dimension of Dubai chocolate made it part of a broader conversation about consumer trend cycles. The slang overload meme format used Dubai chocolate as exhibit A for how internet hype machines work: a product goes viral, gets imitated endlessly, spawns derivative products in unrelated categories, and eventually becomes a punchline for its own ubiquity[3]. ## Fun Facts - FIX Dessert Chocolatier produces only about 500 bars per day, and they sell out within minutes of the 14:00 and 17:00 drops on Deliveroo[1]. - People have been caught by customs officials smuggling Dubai chocolate bars, treating them like contraband luxury goods[1]. - The original bar was born from pregnancy cravings. Sarah Hamouda created it in 2022 because she wanted knafeh and pistachio combined[1]. - Urban Dictionary's top definition for "Dubai Chocolate" is not about the chocolate bar at all, but a crude sex joke[4]. - The chocolate's ASMR-friendly crunch was singled out by Turkish food writer Aylin Öney Tan as the key reason it works on social media, comparing it to Toblerone and Ferrero Rocher[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Dubai Chocolate? Dubai chocolate is a chocolate bar filled with pistachio cream, tahini, and crunchy knafeh pastry, originally created by FIX Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai in 2022[1]. ### Where did Dubai Chocolate come from? It was invented by Sarah Hamouda, a British Egyptian chocolatier and founder of FIX Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai, who created the bar to satisfy her pregnancy cravings for knafeh and pistachio[1]. ### What does Dubai Chocolate mean? As a product, it refers to the pistachio-knafeh-filled chocolate bar format. As a meme, it's used as shorthand for trendy, algorithm-driven consumer products, often listed alongside Labubu toys and matcha drinks in satirical posts[3]. ### How do you use Dubai Chocolate in memes? List it alongside other viral products (Labubu, matcha, Crumbl Cookies, Stanley Cups) in a single long sentence to mock trend-chasing consumer culture[3]. ### Is Dubai Chocolate still popular? Yes. As of mid-2025, the physical product still causes stockouts and rationing worldwide, while the meme version is actively used in slang overload posts on TikTok and Twitter[1][3]. ### Who made the original Dubai Chocolate viral? TikTok influencer Maria Vehera posted a video of herself eating the bar in December 2023, which gained over 125 million views and sparked the global craze[1]. ### Why is Dubai Chocolate so expensive? FIX produces only about 500 bars daily, available exclusively via Deliveroo in the UAE at two specific times. The scarcity drives up resale prices and fuels demand for imitations[1]. ### What is the Starbucks Dubai Chocolate drink? It's a custom order: a Grande Iced Matcha Latte with pistachio sauce and chocolate cold foam. It was created by social media users, not Starbucks, and went viral in early 2025[2]. ### Why did Dubai Chocolate cause a pistachio shortage? The global rush to produce Dubai chocolate imitations massively increased demand for pistachios, straining supply chains worldwide[1]. ### What is the "Labubu Matcha Dubai Chocolate" meme? A slang overload meme trend from mid-2025 where people mock consumerism by stringing together trendy buzzwords. Posts often satirize algorithm-driven shopping culture[3]. ### Can you buy the original FIX Dubai Chocolate bar outside the UAE? No. As of 2025, the original "Can't Get Knafeh Of It" bar is only available through Deliveroo in the UAE. Global versions are all imitations by other brands[1]. ## References 1. ['It was born to be a champion': How Dubai chocolate conquered the world]() 2. ['Labubu' is a plush toy that is causing a frenzy. Here's its origin story : NPR]() 3. [I Tried The Viral Starbucks Dubai Chocolate Bar Matcha Latte—These Are My Unfiltered Thoughts]() 4. [Dubai Chocolate - Know Your Meme]() 5. [List of viral music videos]() 6. [Dubai Chocolate - Urban Dictionary]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/dubai-chocolate Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library