Latest news with #FIXChocolatier
UAE Moments
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- UAE Moments
Dubai's Viral Chocolate Is Getting a New Flavor This Friday
Dubai's viral chocolate bar sensation is back — and this time, it's dropping a brand new flavor. FIX Dessert Chocolatier, the local brand behind the pistachio-stuffed chocolate bar that took over TikTok, will be unveiling its latest creation at a limited-time pop-up in Mall of the Emirates starting Friday, June 13. The new flavor is still under wraps, but fans can try it firsthand when doors open at 10AM. The pop-up will run until June 15, and if the brand's last launch is anything to go by, expect queues and sellouts. From viral TikTok fame to global cult following FIX made headlines last year when its pistachio-loaded chocolate bar exploded on social media, racking up over 56 million views and turning casual snackers into loyal fans overnight. Behind the brand is British-Egyptian founder Sarah Hamouda, who launched FIX in 2021 while pregnant and craving rich desserts. What began as a side project quickly turned into a booming chocolate business, now shipping out around 500 bars a day worldwide. Dubai dessert brand continues to expand Hamouda says it's more than just candy. 'We pour time, effort, and love into every bar. It's meant to be a full-on experience,' she said in an earlier interview. FIX's growth has been organic — from Dubai to Canada, Argentina, and beyond, fans have been sharing reaction videos and reviews online, building a strong global community around the brand. Read More: Fix Chocolate Teams Up with Dubai Crown Prince Fazza Mystery flavor expected to follow pistachio's success The new release comes on the heels of FIX's Kunafa-inspired bar, which received praise earlier this year. With high expectations, fans are hoping the next flavor will live up to — or even top — the pistachio original. Whether you're a returning customer or just curious about the hype, this weekend's launch is your chance to get a first bite of Dubai's next viral dessert.
Express Tribune
17-04-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Creators of viral 'Dubai chocolate' call out copycats for damaging their brand
The creators of the wildly popular 'Dubai chocolate' bar, Can't Get Knafeh of It, are speaking out against a wave of supermarket knockoffs they say are not only diluting their brand, but also confusing customers and undermining their success. British couple Yezen Alani and Sarah Hamouda, founders of FIX Chocolatier, first launched the luxurious pistachio-and-knafeh-filled bar in the UAE in 2022. Initially a passion project born out of their love for premium Middle Eastern flavours, the bar skyrocketed to global fame after going viral on TikTok—where users began raving about its unique texture, bold taste, and unmistakable green hue. The bar's appeal quickly broke beyond the food world. It became a luxury status symbol on social media, featured in everything from unboxing videos and travel vlogs to beauty influencer hauls, often paired with designer bags, manicures, and 'soft life' aesthetics. Content creators flew to Dubai just to film themselves trying the bar. Some even labelled it 'the Birkin of chocolates.' As demand exploded, FIX scaled from a one-person operation to a full team of 50, now producing around 500 bars a day. But the couple are facing a bittersweet reality: their viral success has opened the floodgates for mass-market giants to roll out copycat versions. Brands like Nestlé, Lindt, Lidl, and even Selfridges have launched their own pistachio-knafeh chocolates, many selling out in minutes—often at lower price points. Yezen shared his frustration in a recent BBC interview, explaining how these imitations can mislead customers: "The dupes are very frustrating because people are trying knockoffs, which damages our brand." He and Sarah worry that customers trying the supermarket versions may assume they reflect the same quality and craftsmanship FIX has become known for. In truth, FIX's bars are meticulously handcrafted using premium ingredients, and their recipe remains tightly guarded. To maintain the exclusivity and artisanal integrity of their product, the couple now limit sales to two short daily windows via a dedicated app. This system helps manage demand while preserving the high-end, limited-edition aura the bar has become famous for. Despite the challenges, FIX Chocolatier has no plans to compromise. Instead, the couple continue to expand thoughtfully—looking into collaborations and controlled retail growth while fiercely protecting the brand they built from scratch. With its viral clout, aesthetic appeal, and the ongoing buzz on TikTok and Instagram, Can't Get Knafeh of It has proved to be more than just a dessert—it's a global phenomenon. But as FIX Chocolatier's founders have learned, viral fame can be a double-edged sword.
BBC News
11-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Dubai chocolate: How a sweet treat worth £15 went viral
While on holiday in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last week, there was only one mission on my mind - getting my hands on the viral "Dubai chocolate" you're on TikTok, you will have seen the bar, which combines the flavours of chocolate, pistachio and tahini with filo pastry, and is inspired by the Arab dessert original, called Can't Get Knafeh of It, by FIX Chocolatier, has been sold exclusively in the UAE since 2022. It become so popular on social media that it's only on sale for two hours a day and often sells out within now imitations, known by the nickname "Dubai chocolate", have hit UK supermarkets including Waitrose, Lidl and Morrisons, with some supermarkets limiting the number of bars customers are allowed to Alani, who co-owns FIX with his wife Sarah Hamouda, told the BBC the global attention Dubai chocolate was getting was "flattering and humbling". The FIX chocolate bar was first imagined by Hamouda in 2021, who craved the flavours while she was and Hamouda started developing the bar a year later, running the business alongside their corporate jobs."Sarah and I were brought up in the UK and we moved to Dubai 10 years ago, so we've got Western and Arab roots."We wanted to create flavours that were inspired by that," Alani of the appeal of the chocolate is its exclusivity - you can only order it using a food delivery app, rather than walking into a shop or grabbing it at the costs around £15 per bar and can only be bought during specific hours of the day to ensure the company can fulfil all their orders.I also saw similar bars sold in many shops in the region, dubbed "Dubai chocolate" and adorned with pictures of pistachios and filo says the "copycat" bars are "very frustrating because people are trying knockoffs, which damages our brand". One of the reasons for the bar's surge in popularity has been social media - with a viral video by TikTok user Maria Vehera from 2023 being cited as one of the main reasons for its rise to shows Vehera trying the Knafeh bar for the first time - along with several others made by the same chocolatier - and has been liked nearly seven million way the bar looks is made for social media - from the attractive orange and green spots on top of the smooth milk chocolate to the crunch sound it makes when you break off a combined with pistachio isn't new but the real standout element is the crunchy nature of the filling, with the filo pastry adding a texture and thickness to the bar. Since the Can't Get Knafeh of It bar is only available in one country, other brands have started to sell their versions in the UK, including Swiss chocolate manufacturer Lindt whose Dubai chocolate is being sold for £10 in stocking the bar, Waitrose says they've had to introduce a two-bar limit for customers in order to regulate stock version has also been sold by Home Bargains, while supermarket Lidl has its own version for £4.99 and is also limiting purchase influencer documented how the bar been kept behind tills for this tried the Lindt bar and a couple of other versions being sold in corner shops, there is quite a FIX chocolate is billed as a "dessert bar" and needs to be kept in the fridge, with a short expiry date like many dairy isn't the case for the others, which have been designed to have a longer shelf can also see the difference in taste and texture - the original bar is almost double the width of the Lindt bar, which is more aligned to the size and shape of a standard chocolate bar. When Alani and Hamouda first started out, they employed one person to fulfil around six to seven orders a day. But since growing in popularity, primarily thanks to TikTok, their business now employs 20 people, who fulfil 500 orders a big talking point has been the price of the product, which is £15 per bar."It's all handmade, every single design is done by hand," Alani says."We use premium ingredients and the process is not like making a Cadbury's bar - you've got the baking, moulding the chocolate to the design and with the filling itself, even the pistachios are hand-picked and processed". Speaking to Arabian Business last year, Hamouda said: "My mother used to make Knafeh, and that's something I wanted to capture my own way."Knafeh was the first flavour we perfected. The crunch, the pistachio, it had to be just right," she the product's success, Alani says "it's been a tough journey" as the pair have been working together full time while also raising their two children."There's been times where we've wanted to give up, but we said to ourselves 'we'll keep going as long as we can pay the rent' and now we have no regrets as its worked out".
