Are You Part of the Dubai Chocolate Craze?

By now, you have probably heard about the Dubai chocolate craze all over your social media feeds. It’s a chocolate bar filled with pistachio cream mixed with toasted, buttery, and shredded kataifi. It has that satisfying snap when you break the chocolate bar in half, and that crunchy kataifi once you bite into it, giving you the perfect balance of pistachio and chocolate. But is it really as good as the media makes it seem, or is it all an advertising scheme? 

Personally, I believe Dubai chocolate is overrated. It tastes good, but not good enough to justify spending around $25 or more, which is considered pricey for a chocolate bar. Dubai chocolate is only overpriced due to pistachios’ slow maturation period and high maintenance care. Brands and companies such as Lindt, Costco, Crumbl, are creating and selling pistachio items, which gives them a big opportunity to earn more money, since pistachio items are considered mainstream and consumers are willing to pay an abstract amount of money for them. Companies benefit as they will make a profit from Dubai chocolate bars, and consumers benefit by feeling included in the trend or will use it as leverage to gain fame from promoting the product. This creates a mindset of corporate greed and consumerism.

People have started to either create or recreate different versions of the Dubai chocolate, such as the Dubai chocolate chewy cookie. This cookie is similar to the Dubai chocolate bar, as it has that creamy and crunchy pistachio filling, but instead of using chocolate to make it a chocolate bar, it is wrapped in melted marshmallows and coated in cocoa powder. These Dubai chocolate chewy cookies blew up on social media, especially in South Korea. Many stores recreated it to sell to customers, and it was instantly sold out in a span of an hour. People have even created a map of where to find these chewy cookies and how many were in stock in that specific store. 

Pistachio prices have been becoming more expensive, but why is that? Behind the scenes of this viral trend, pistachio harvests have been lacking due to environmental problems, while the demand has increased drastically, causing a shortage. Dubai chocolate is a phenomenon that causes individuals to feel seen and blend in with the most popular choice as a form of fitting into society.

These pistachios are harvested in California, as it is the largest producer of pistachio. The harvests for pistachios have been decreasing due to climate change. According to KQED News, “researchers warn that due to climate change, California faces a future where droughts will become more frequent and longer.” This would mean that pistachio harvests will be affected, as there is a limited water supply for crops. According to AGC News, it provides a bar graph of California’s pistachio supply decreasing from 2021-2025. Iran is another large producer of pistachios and increased their exports by 40% because they are suffering from droughts. Iran has been struggling to find international buyers, as they have been competing with the US, which are the biggest producer of pistachios. The high demand for pistachios had to increase during poor crop harvests for pistachios, as the supplies could not completely fulfill the high demand.

The Dubai chocolate craze should be put to an end, as it is expensive, overhyped, and harmful to our environment. There are way more important things to focus on other than Dubai chocolate. We consumers are blinded by these viral trends and don’t realize the effects it has around the environment. People on social media consistently follow whatever is popular or mainstream, as we are easily influenced through a screen.