Here's where to find Dubai chocolate-inspired shakes, lattes and cookies
Shake Shack released a Dubai Chocolate Pistachio Shake, Costco stocked After's Dubai Chocolate Ice Cream Bars and Starbucks has promoted a make-it-your own Dubai chocolate beverage.
Notable brands that have released their own Dubai chocolate bars include Trader Joe's and Lindt, the latter of which launched its Dubai Style Chocolate Bar in major retailers, including Walmart, Target, Walgreens and Kroger, on Monday, July 7.
Here's a look at some of the products floating around the Dubai chocolate flavor atmosphere.
More Dubai chocolate: Lindt has released a Dubai chocolate bar: Here's where to buy it
How to buy: Trader Joe's sells viral Dubai chocolate bars for 5 times less than original price
In June, Shake Shack released its Dubai Chocolate Pistachio Shake across the U.S. The shake is made with pistachio frozen custard, toasted kataifi (shredded phyllo), a dark chocolate shell and topped with chopped pistachios and kataifi. The shakes start at $9.49.
A Shake Shack spokesperson told USA TODAY that the shakes will be available at participating locations through August, though due to availability and ingredients, each location will sell a limited amount of shakes per day.
After Hours Ice Cream, based in California, released a Dubai chocolate ice cream bar earlier this summer. However, as of July 10, the ice cream bars did not appear on the Costco website.
Neither Costco nor After Hours immediately responded when contacted by USA TODAY on July 10.
Crave Cookies has released two Dubai chocolate-inspired items, a cookie and strawberry cup.
According to the Crave Cookies website, the cookie is made with chocolate dough and stuffed with kunafa pistachio filling and layered with milk and white chocolate icing and crispy, toasted kataifi. The cookie is available at participating locations through Thursday, July 10.
The Dubai Chocolate Strawberry Cup is made with house-made pistachio cream, milk chocolate ganache, crushed pistachios, strawberries and topped with shredded kataifi and crushed chocolate chip cookies, per the Crave Cookies website.
Starbucks hasn't officially released a Dubai chocolate drink, but the chain crafted up a "secret" menu item it feels fits the taste and aesthetic.
Starbucks recommends the following order to sip on a Dubai chocolate-inspired drink:
The original Dubai chocolate bar is made by FIX Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is called "Can't Get Knafeh Of It." A six-pack of bars costs $120 on the FIX Dessert Chocolatier website, making one bar $20.
The chocolate bar was released in 2022 when FIX Dessert Chocolatier Founder Sarah Hamouda wished to satisfy her pregnancy cravings for knafeh (a Middle Eastern dessert made with pastry dough, sweet cheese and syrup) and pistachio, BBC reported.
"Can't Get Knafeh Of It" first went viral in 2023, when content creator Maria Vehera posted a TikTok of her trying the luxury chocolate bar. As of July 10, the video has more than 131 million views.
Countless brands have made their own versions, or "dupes" of the viral chocolate bar, including Florida-based Bolci ($19 for one bar) and New York City-based The Nuts Factory ($50 for two bars) and countless homemade recipes on Etsy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indianapolis Star
an hour ago
- Indianapolis Star
They returned used toilets and dirty rugs to Costco. Then came the backlash.
Evelyn Juarez is a proud card-carrying executive member of Costco. She jokes it's the only black card she owns. Every week, her heels click up and down the warehouse aisles as she hunts for new deals, stocks up on groceries and grazes on samples. In nearly two years, Juarez never returned a purchase, even when her newly purchased rug began to fray. But then her 2-year-old daughter smuggled a bucket of slime into the living room and slopped the blue goo on her ivory-colored rug. Juarez was about to chuck the stained rug when a friend urged her to take it back instead. 'I was like, girl, are you trying to embarrass me?' replied Juarez, a 29-year-old mother of two and social media influencer from Dallas. But then she got to thinking. 'You know what? I have been spending thousands of dollars. I just bought my couches from Costco, too. I don't think $150 will hurt them.' She was nervous as she approached the return counter but minutes later, Juarez walked out of the warehouse with a full refund. The next day, she bought a replacement rug from Costco. 'After that, I am going to keep my membership forever,' she said. 'I am not sure if it's out of guilt or out of amazement.' From low prices on quality products to the wildly popular $1.50 hot dog-and-soda combo, Costco knows how to worm its way into shoppers' hearts and pantries. One of its most popular perks is the no-questions-asked (or few questions asked) "risk-free 100% satisfaction guarantee" return policy that fills shoppers with buying confidence and their carts with splurges. Costco gives its customers who pay annual membership fees of $65 to $130 an unlimited grace period to return most purchases for a full refund. But the liberal policy has become a touchy subject as eyebrow-raising returns go viral, from toilets still sloshing with dirty water to Christmas trees returned after Christmas. Shoppers regularly square off online over what should – and should not be – returned. The online fury reached a fever pitch in 2024 when a Seattle woman got a full refund for a 2 ½-year-old couch because she no longer cared for the color. Rampant abuse sets off fears that the warehouse club will roll back its generous return policy, said Addison Marriott. Marriott, 24, who works in advertising, took some heat when she and her husband returned an air conditioning unit they bought to weather the sweltering summer months in their one-bedroom Los Angeles apartment and then posted about it on TikTok: "We broke married kids love your return policy." 'People were nervous that if the video blew up, Costco would find out and restrict their return policies,' Marriott said. Parker Seidel, a 26-year-old YouTube creator from Orange County, got blowback when he tested the limits of Costco's return policy with a series of stunts, getting his money back for a half-eaten chicken bake and three-week-old flowers he never put in water. Next up: Returning a Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers Lego set after completing it. 'I was getting so much hate. I was like, 'Oh my god, I was not expecting this at all,'' Seidel said. For Juarez, what she calls 'carpetgate' blew up on TikTok, where she has 2.4 million followers. 'You are so classless,' one person commented. 'Girl what, your kids stained (the rug) and now you are making it Costco's problem?' 'You are paying for the perks of having products that you can buy and products that you can return,' she told USA TODAY. 'It's a really good way that they hook you in. I am sure that they make way more money off of us purchasing stuff than they lose from returns.' Costco did not respond to requests for comment on its famously lenient return policy but David and Susan Schwartz, the husband-and-wife team behind the 2023 book, 'The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z,' say it dates back to the company's origins. When they interviewed Jim Sinegal, the Costco co-founder and former CEO told them about a call from a store manager asking if the store should let someone return an unusual and expensive item. 'Jim Sinegal said, 'What are you calling me for?'' Susan Schwartz said. ''Take it back.' And they did.' That laid-back attitude has stood the test of time and industry headwinds – with an exception here and there. In 2007, Costco limited most consumer-electronics returns to 90 days after returns of flat-panel TVs squeezed profit margins. "Our view is, even with these changes, we still have the best return policy in the retail industry," former chief operating officer Richard Galanti told the Wall Street Journal at the time. A lenient return policy is even more important for today's inflation-weary shoppers, said Anna Brennan, principal analyst for club and specialty retailers at marketing data and analytics firm Kantar. 'It all ties back to reducing some of that stress and risk on the shopper and members' part, especially in an environment like the one we're in today, where every purchase feels particularly weighted,' Brennan said. 'I think that really helps the member make some purchases maybe they wouldn't have otherwise.' How Costco hooks you Come for the hot dogs, stay for the gold bars That was the case for Troy Pavlek, a 31-year-old software developer from Edmonton, Alberta. A Costco executive member since 2012, he says he pays to shop at Costco for 'the confidence that anything you buy in the store, the store will stand behind or your money back' and he has rarely had to return anything. While remodeling his house, he splurged on two $900 toilets. When the manufacturer refused to replace a cracked plastic piece that joined the lid to the toilet on one, he returned the other one unused and still in the box — minus the lid. According to Ayelet Fishbach, professor of behavioral science and marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an ethical dilemma drives the spirited controversy over Costco returns: 'Should people follow the letter of the rule or the spirit behind it?' Fishbach got an inkling of where most people stood when she surveyed hundreds of consumers on whether they would return lightly worn clothing. About 40% said yes, but that number dropped significantly when they were asked if they would do it repeatedly. 'It seems many people are comfortable occasionally bending the spirit of a policy, and may even find it amusing, but hesitate to make a habit of it,' she said. Take Susana Rodriguez, a mother of seven from Henderson, Nevada. She returned a canopy used by her small business, Cocos Frios El Primo, after the wind tore it apart in less than two months. But Rodriguez, 45, said she draws a line for returns after a certain amount of time. Costco told her she could return a TV that was a few years old. 'I didn't do it," she said. "It lasted what it lasted.' Costco employees on the returns front lines have seen it all, from dirty and stained mattresses to half-eaten trays of cookies. Then there are the shoppers who rent from Costco. Televisions bought before the Super Bowl and returned right after. Chairs and tables purchased for an event and wheeled in the next day. A couple of the staffers spoke with USA TODAY on the condition of anonymity because they feared they could lose their jobs. While they wish people wouldn't take advantage, they say the return policy does exactly what it was intended to do: It breeds loyalty, drives sales and entices new members. 'It's great because it gives members peace of mind,' one Illinois employee told USA TODAY. 'I'm sure that works in our favor all the time, because people buy things and then they decide they love them and it's worth keeping.' While most returns are accepted, some repeat offenders get flagged, a Connecticut employee said. One shopper kept returning lighting fixtures purchased nearly a decade ago as she remodeled her home, lightbulbs and all. After a few months, the store turned her away. 'That is pretty common,' the employee said. 'People will remodel their homes and they will literally pull up their flooring and return it.' In rare cases, when the return policy is 'really abused,' Costco revokes memberships, the employee said. But for most shoppers, she said, 'we'll take anything.' The store tries to donate as much as it can, she said, but some returns go to waste. Returned food that needs to be temperature controlled, for instance, gets tossed in the trash. She estimates her warehouse throws away 'a few hundred dollars' worth of food every day. But the policy usually benefits Costco, the employee said. She recalled one instance where a customer was torn between a Costco vacuum and a cheaper model from Macy's. 'I said, 'Well, what if you have to return it? Are they going to accept your vacuum return six months down the road? Probably not. But we will.' So she spent the extra couple hundred dollars and got it from us,' the employee said. Increasingly, retailers are under pressure to ditch anything-goes policies as fraud and abuse erode profit margins. Of the $685 billion in merchandise returned in 2024, $103 billion was lost to fraudulent and abusive returns and claims, according to a recent report from Appriss Retail. In 2018, L.L. Bean traded in its lifetime return policy for a one-year limit, noting that some customers expected returns for heavily worn products or items purchased at yard sales. Duluth Trading Company made a similar switch in 2019. Retailers have also begun charging restocking fees or for return shipping to recoup losses. Not Costco. It can afford to absorb the losses because it relies on a membership business model, analysts say. Last year it earned $4.8 billion in revenue from membership fees alone. Returns are an important part of keeping those members happy, said USC Marshall School of Business marketing professor Kristin Diehl. Research shows that shoppers often base purchases on how hard or easy they think it will be to return something. More than half of consumers decided not to buy from retailers due to restrictive return policies and almost a third of consumers stopped shopping at stores due to negative return experiences, according to a recent report from Appriss Retail. On the other hand, 7 out of 10 consumers say they made at least one additional purchase because of a positive return experience. Costco members are less likely to abuse the privilege because returns are tied to their membership and they don't want to get blacklisted, Diehl said. They also consider themselves part of the Costco community. The return policy fosters a sense of belonging and good will, something Costco has in bulk. It's also 'great word of mouth,' said Neil Saunders, a retail analyst at the research and analytics firm GlobalData. That's why it's here to stay, he said. Whatever "miniscule cost' from return policy abuse is worth it to Costco.
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
They returned used toilets and dirty rugs to Costco. Then came the backlash.
Shoppers pushing the limits of Costco's famously lenient "risk-free 100% satisfaction" return policy by getting full refunds for sagging sofas and stained mattresses are dividing the internet. Evelyn Juarez is a proud card-carrying executive member of Costco. She jokes it's the only black card she owns. Every week, her heels click up and down the warehouse aisles as she hunts for new deals, stocks up on groceries and grazes on samples. In nearly two years, Juarez never returned a purchase, even when her newly purchased rug began to fray. But then her 2-year-old daughter smuggled a bucket of slime into the living room and slopped the blue goo on her ivory-colored rug. Juarez was about to chuck the stained rug when a friend urged her to take it back instead. 'I was like, girl, are you trying to embarrass me?' replied Juarez, a 29-year-old mother of two and social media influencer from Dallas. But then she got to thinking. 'You know what? I have been spending thousands of dollars. I just bought my couches from Costco, too. I don't think $150 will hurt them.' She was nervous as she approached the return counter but minutes later, Juarez walked out of the warehouse with a full refund. The next day, she bought a replacement rug from Costco. 'After that, I am going to keep my membership forever,' she said. 'I am not sure if it's out of guilt or out of amazement.' From low prices on quality products to the wildly popular $1.50 hot dog-and-soda combo, Costco knows how to worm its way into shoppers' hearts and pantries. One of its most popular perks is the no-questions-asked (or few questions asked) "risk-free 100% satisfaction guarantee" return policy that fills shoppers with buying confidence and their carts with splurges. Costco gives its customers who pay annual membership fees of $65 to $130 an unlimited grace period to return most purchases for a full refund. But the liberal policy has become a touchy subject as eyebrow-raising returns go viral, from toilets still sloshing with dirty water to Christmas trees returned after Christmas. Shoppers regularly square off online over what should – and should not be – returned. The online fury reached a fever pitch in 2024 when a Seattle woman got a full refund for a 2 ½-year-old couch because she no longer cared for the color. Why Costco returns are controversial Rampant abuse sets off fears that the warehouse club will roll back its generous return policy, said Addison Marriott. Marriott, 24, who works in advertising, took some heat when she and her husband returned an air conditioning unit they bought to weather the sweltering summer months in their one-bedroom Los Angeles apartment and then posted about it on TikTok: "We broke married kids love your return policy." 'People were nervous that if the video blew up, Costco would find out and restrict their return policies,' Marriott said. Parker Seidel, a 26-year-old YouTube creator from Orange County, got blowback when he tested the limits of Costco's return policy with a series of stunts, getting his money back for a half-eaten chicken bake and three-week-old flowers he never put in water. Next up: Returning a Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers Lego set after completing it. 'I was getting so much hate. I was like, 'Oh my god, I was not expecting this at all,'' Seidel said. For Juarez, what she calls 'carpetgate' blew up on TikTok, where she has 2.4 million followers. 'You are so classless,' one person commented. 'Girl what, your kids stained (the rug) and now you are making it Costco's problem?' 'You are paying for the perks of having products that you can buy and products that you can return,' she told USA TODAY. 'It's a really good way that they hook you in. I am sure that they make way more money off of us purchasing stuff than they lose from returns.' Return policy is coveted Costco perk Costco did not respond to requests for comment on its famously lenient return policy but David and Susan Schwartz, the husband-and-wife team behind the 2023 book, 'The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z,' say it dates back to the company's origins. When they interviewed Jim Sinegal, the Costco co-founder and former CEO told them about a call from a store manager asking if the store should let someone return an unusual and expensive item. 'Jim Sinegal said, 'What are you calling me for?'' Susan Schwartz said. ''Take it back.' And they did.' That laid-back attitude has stood the test of time and industry headwinds – with an exception here and there. In 2007, Costco limited most consumer-electronics returns to 90 days after returns of flat-panel TVs squeezed profit margins. "Our view is, even with these changes, we still have the best return policy in the retail industry," former chief operating officer Richard Galanti told the Wall Street Journal at the time. A lenient return policy is even more important for today's inflation-weary shoppers, said Anna Brennan, principal analyst for club and specialty retailers at marketing data and analytics firm Kantar. 'It all ties back to reducing some of that stress and risk on the shopper and members' part, especially in an environment like the one we're in today, where every purchase feels particularly weighted,' Brennan said. 'I think that really helps the member make some purchases maybe they wouldn't have otherwise.' How Costco hooks you Come for the hot dogs, stay for the gold bars That was the case for Troy Pavlek, a 31-year-old software developer from Edmonton, Alberta. A Costco executive member since 2012, he says he pays to shop at Costco for 'the confidence that anything you buy in the store, the store will stand behind or your money back' and he has rarely had to return anything. While remodeling his house, he splurged on two $900 toilets. When the manufacturer refused to replace a cracked plastic piece that joined the lid to the toilet on one, he returned the other one unused and still in the box — minus the lid. Should I return this to Costco? Ethics debated According to Ayelet Fishbach, professor of behavioral science and marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an ethical dilemma drives the spirited controversy over Costco returns: 'Should people follow the letter of the rule or the spirit behind it?' Fishbach got an inkling of where most people stood when she surveyed hundreds of consumers on whether they would return lightly worn clothing. About 40% said yes, but that number dropped significantly when they were asked if they would do it repeatedly. 'It seems many people are comfortable occasionally bending the spirit of a policy, and may even find it amusing, but hesitate to make a habit of it,' she said. Take Susana Rodriguez, a mother of seven from Henderson, Nevada. She returned a canopy used by her small business, Cocos Frios El Primo, after the wind tore it apart in less than two months. But Rodriguez, 45, said she draws a line for returns after a certain amount of time. Costco told her she could return a TV that was a few years old. 'I didn't do it," she said. "It lasted what it lasted.' Behind the Costco returns counter Costco employees on the returns front lines have seen it all, from dirty and stained mattresses to half-eaten trays of cookies. Then there are the shoppers who rent from Costco. Televisions bought before the Super Bowl and returned right after. Chairs and tables purchased for an event and wheeled in the next day. A couple of the staffers spoke with USA TODAY on the condition of anonymity because they feared they could lose their jobs. While they wish people wouldn't take advantage, they say the return policy does exactly what it was intended to do: It breeds loyalty, drives sales and entices new members. 'It's great because it gives members peace of mind,' one Illinois employee told USA TODAY. 'I'm sure that works in our favor all the time, because people buy things and then they decide they love them and it's worth keeping.' While most returns are accepted, some repeat offenders get flagged, a Connecticut employee said. One shopper kept returning lighting fixtures purchased nearly a decade ago as she remodeled her home, lightbulbs and all. After a few months, the store turned her away. 'That is pretty common,' the employee said. 'People will remodel their homes and they will literally pull up their flooring and return it.' In rare cases, when the return policy is 'really abused,' Costco revokes memberships, the employee said. But for most shoppers, she said, 'we'll take anything.' The store tries to donate as much as it can, she said, but some returns go to waste. Returned food that needs to be temperature controlled, for instance, gets tossed in the trash. She estimates her warehouse throws away 'a few hundred dollars' worth of food every day. But the policy usually benefits Costco, the employee said. She recalled one instance where a customer was torn between a Costco vacuum and a cheaper model from Macy's. 'I said, 'Well, what if you have to return it? Are they going to accept your vacuum return six months down the road? Probably not. But we will.' So she spent the extra couple hundred dollars and got it from us,' the employee said. Could abuse end Costco returns? Increasingly, retailers are under pressure to ditch anything-goes policies as fraud and abuse erode profit margins. Of the $685 billion in merchandise returned in 2024, $103 billion was lost to fraudulent and abusive returns and claims, according to a recent report from Appriss Retail. In 2018, L.L. Bean traded in its lifetime return policy for a one-year limit, noting that some customers expected returns for heavily worn products or items purchased at yard sales. Duluth Trading Company made a similar switch in 2019. Retailers have also begun charging restocking fees or for return shipping to recoup losses. Not Costco. It can afford to absorb the losses because it relies on a membership business model, analysts say. Last year it earned $4.8 billion in revenue from membership fees alone. Returns are an important part of keeping those members happy, said USC Marshall School of Business marketing professor Kristin Diehl. Research shows that shoppers often base purchases on how hard or easy they think it will be to return something. More than half of consumers decided not to buy from retailers due to restrictive return policies and almost a third of consumers stopped shopping at stores due to negative return experiences, according to a recent report from Appriss Retail. On the other hand, 7 out of 10 consumers say they made at least one additional purchase because of a positive return experience. Costco members are less likely to abuse the privilege because returns are tied to their membership and they don't want to get blacklisted, Diehl said. They also consider themselves part of the Costco community. The return policy fosters a sense of belonging and good will, something Costco has in bulk. It's also 'great word of mouth,' said Neil Saunders, a retail analyst at the research and analytics firm GlobalData. That's why it's here to stay, he said. Whatever "miniscule cost' from return policy abuse is worth it to Costco. 'It's one of the magical things people like about Costco,' Saunders said. 'There are certain things in Costco that are pretty set. The price of hot dogs is one of them, the return policy is another.'
Business Insider
3 hours ago
- Business Insider
A Fall Shake-Up is Coming to Starbucks: Starbucks Stock (NASDAQ:SBUX) Jumps
Yesterday, we found out about coffee giant Starbucks (SBUX) and its plans to roll out a drink that for many screams fall with quite a bit of summer left to go. Now, we have new word about the rest of the fall menu, and there will be some significant surprises to come. There will be surprises in what Starbucks will offer, and what it will refuse to offer as well. The news hit home for shareholders, who sent shares jumping nearly 3% in Tuesday afternoon's trading. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. One of the biggest new items coming to Starbucks is the Pecan Cortado. Described as an '…espresso-forward drink with pecan syrup twist,' the beverage is eight ounces and is also considered a major push into European coffee culture. The Cortado will join the Pumpkin Spice Latte, available August 26. There is also an unusual new push into food, with the launch of Italian Sausage Egg Bites. Prepared sous vide—basically by immersing a sealed packet into hot water for a set period—the bites are described as having a '…velvety texture that's full of flavor.' In an odd twist, though, one of the most popular flavors of fall–apple–is out at Starbucks. There will be no apple-flavored drinks in the fall lineup. No Iced Apple Crisp, no ciders—hot or cold—and nothing to remind the customer that fall is apple season. More Water Troubles A while back, we found out a story about a patron who was in desperate need of a glass of water. It is the kind of thing that should be simply done, represents only a tiny cost to the business, and often makes for satisfied future customers. But Starbucks has once again run afoul of those seeking water, this time, a USPS driver. The postal driver tried to get a glass of water after delivering a package to the Starbucks location. The barista refused, saying that free water was apparently not a thing, as the water could be given out for free if there was a purchase made. So the delivery driver bought a bottle of water instead, and took her story to social media. There was no response from Starbucks as yet, the report noted. This will likely not sit well with customers hoping for some basic empathy, or with shareholders who want to look like they are not investing in a monster that denies something as simple as water to delivery drivers. Is Starbucks Stock a Good Buy? Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on SBUX stock based on 13 Buys, nine Holds and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 21.51% rally in its share price over the past year, the average SBUX price target of $96.24 per share implies 0.65% upside potential.
