The immense popularity of Dubai chocolate, spurred on by TikTok, has sparked a global pistachio shortage, which has sent prices of the nut soaring.
Dubai chocolate is a bar of milk chocolate stuffed with a creamy concoction of pistachio cream and shredded pastry known as kataifi.
The high-end bar was launched in 2021 by boutique Emirati chocolatier FIX, but became a global sensation in 2023 thanks to a TikTok video.
Posted at the end of 2023, the clip has now been viewed more than 120 million times, spawning thousands of follow-up videos in which creators taste the treat for themselves or make their own.
Brands such as Lindt and Läderach also made their own knock-offs of the viral sensation, with Morrison’s supermarket launching a pistachio cream Easter egg.
The result, however, has led to an international shortage of pistachio kernels, which are largely grown in the US or Iran.
The shortage has seen prices surge. In one year, prices have risen from $7.95 to $10.30 a pound, Giles Hacking, from nut trader CG Hacking, told the Financial Times.
“The pistachio world is basically tapped out at the moment,” he said.
The rise of Dubai chocolate has only made matters worse, given that pistachios were already becoming scarce due to last year’s poor harvest in the US.
That US crop was higher quality than usual, leaving fewer of the cheap, shell-free kernels available, which are generally sold as ingredients for Dubai chocolate.
Hacking told the publication: “There wasn’t much in supply, so when Dubai chocolate comes along, and [chocolatiers] are buying up all the kernels they get their hands on . . . that leaves the rest of the world short.”
Iran, the world’s second-largest producers, exported 40 per cent more pistachios to the UAE in the six months to March than they had in the 12 months prior to that.
The buzz surrounding this delicious treat seems here to stay, with Charles Jandreau, the general manager for Prestat Group, which owns several luxury British chocolate brands, telling the FT that the demand has surprised the industry.
“It feels like it came out of nowhere,” he said. “Suddenly you see it in every corner shop.”
As a result, some stores are reportedly limiting how many bars each customer can buy.
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