Remember when TikTok went nuts for “Dubai chocolate”? Well, that fervor is now causing an international shortage of pistachios.
The trend took off in 2023 when food reviewer Maria Vehera posted a video unwrapping and eating the high-end chocolate bar. The chocolate (called “Can’t Get Knafeh of It” in a nod to the traditional Arab dessert) was originally launched in 2021 by boutique Emirati chocolatier FIX. Vehera’s video has since racked up over 124 million views and is widely credited with sparking the “Dubai chocolate” craze.
Instantly recognisable by its vibrant green filling, TikTokers flooded the platform with enthusiastic taste tests of the bar, which is sold exclusively in the UAE. Many also began rating dupes and attempting homemade recreations. The traditional recipe features milk chocolate, the shredded pastry known as kataifi, and a pistachio cream filling.
If the bar wasn’t already hard enough to get your hands on, it has now triggered an international shortage of its key ingredient: pistachio kernels. In just one year, prices have soared from $7.65 to $10.30 per pound, Giles Hacking from nut trader CG Hacking told the Financial Times. “The pistachio world is basically tapped out at the moment,” he said.
Primarily grown in the US and Iran, pistachios were already in short supply due to a poor American harvest last year. This year, Iranian producers have exported 40% more nuts to the UAE in the six months leading to March than they did in the entire 12 months before. That’s a major shift from 2023, when global supply exceeded demand and prices dipped, according to Behrooz Agah, a board member at Iran’s pistachio association.
Major chocolate makers like Läderach and Lindt have since joined the trend with their own pistachio-infused products. Meanwhile, cookie chain Crumbl reportedly has Dubai Chocolate Brownie and Dubai Chocolate Cheesecake flavors in development. And with demand still booming, scammers have even set up fake websites claiming to sell the coveted chocolate.
In response, some stores are now reportedly rationing the number of bars per customer. I’d like to see them try to stand between me and my pistachio chocolate.
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