Latest news with #SarahHamouda
CNBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Why everyone is selling Dubai chocolate bars
As a new chocolate trend takes over the globe, U.S. companies like Shake Shack and Crumbl have worked quickly to capitalize on its continuing popularity with limited edition spinoffs, while other chocolate manufacturers have created dozens of dupes sold at Target, Costco, Amazon and now Trader Joe's. The idea for "Dubai chocolate" was first sparked in 2021 by Fix Dessert Chocolatier founder and CEO Sarah Hamouda's pregnancy cravings, she told CNBC. The original chocolate bars are filled with a mixture of pistachio cream, kadayif (shredded phyllo dough) and tahini. "All I knew in my head is that I wanted to create this chocolate bar that's essentially a dessert encased in chocolate, but looks and feels like a chocolate bar," Hamouda said. In December 2023, the bars went viral on social media. "Instead of getting one order every week, we started to get 10, 15 orders," she said. "It was exciting, but it was also like, you know, oh my God, like, how is this happening." The Fix bars are only available in Dubai and drop twice a day on local delivery service Deliveroo. They're periodically available at Dubai International Airport's Duty-Free shop, which reported that over 1.2 million bars were sold in April, generating $22 million in sales. Yet, the United Arab Emirates isn't part of the international trademark treaty that would secure protection for the Dubai chocolate name, which makes it easy for any company to make an imitation of the bar. Chocolate manufacturer Lindt, which posted $6.2 billion in its full fiscal-year 2024 earnings, sold a limited-edition bar in December 2024, and said it's developing a new permanent Dubai chocolate recipe "in response to overwhelming demand." Shake Shack launched a limited-edition milkshake in April with the flavors. Crumbl is working on a brownie spinoff. Starbucks didn't create an official product, but promoted a customer's idea for a Dubai chocolate-inspired drink, which it later said boosted sales among Gen Z consumers. Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin', which are owned by Inspire Brands, have each launched Dubai chocolate-inspired desserts in other countries like Malaysia and the Netherlands, but wouldn't confirm if they were bringing them to the U.S. markets. Nuts Factory, a New York City based dried fruit and nuts store, says it was the first company to make a dupe of the bar in the city. It launched in July after testing out different versions in just a couple of days, according to its CEO Din Allall. The bars are made by hand, and it had to impose a one-bar-per-customer limit in stores that summer. "People just started calling nonstop. We couldn't meet the demand, and we just turned the world upside down to make sure we meet the demand. And I think now we're in good shape," he said. Allall said the company used to make a "couple hundred" bars per day. Now it makes a "few thousand" daily, as the stores have added more flavors, hired additional workers and bought more machines to meet demand. Nuts Factory has also created other Dubai chocolate-inspired desserts. So far the trend has lasted for 18 months, and companies are still joining in. Trader Joe's just launched arguably the cheapest Dubai chocolate dupe at $3.99 per bar. It's too early to track "Dubai chocolate" flavor combinations on restaurant menus, says food service consulting firm Technomic, but chocolate-pistachio flavor combos on restaurant menus were up 22.3% between the fourth quarter of 2023 and the same period in 2024, and increased 5.9% the year prior. Watch this video to learn more.
Glasgow Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
I tested Lidl's new Dubai Chocolate spread and it was a treat
Officially called Della Sante Dubai-Style Chocolate Cream, this follows on from the supermarket launching their own version of the TikTok-famous bar earlier in the year. You may have seen the original confection on the social media platform in the past year or so, as it went viral with many people trying it. Created by Sarah Hamouda of FIX Dessert Chocolatier in 2021, it combines pistachio nuts and milk chocolate alongside some Middle Eastern flavours. Lidl released a £3.99 version of this with the J.D. Gross Dubai-Style Chocolate bar on their TikTok shop on March 20. A limited stock of 6,000 bars was sold out within an hour, with around 72 bars being purchased per minute, according to the supermarket. Due to its popularity, Lidl made the bars available to buy in its stores at the end of the same month. Now it has launched a 190g jar of Dubai Chocolate spread, which can be purchased for £3.99. I was interested in seeing how this spread would stack up to the bar, so I tested it out. I tested Lidl's new Dubai Chocolate spread Back in March, I compared the regular Lidl Dubai Chocolate bar from the supermarket with a more expensive £15 one and wasn't exactly impressed with either of them. Therefore, my expectations were perhaps somewhat lowered for the spread, where I was merely hoping it would rise above being a bit boring. The Lidl Dubai Chocolate spread comes in a 190g jar (Image: Newsquest) Lidl's Della Sante Dubai-Style Chocolate Cream combines Kadayif pastry and chocolate to create a thick, crunchy spread. While you could use the spread on anything of your choosing, I just went for the classic option of putting it on a piece of toast. The spread didn't look the most appetising (Image: Newsquest) The thickness of the spread didn't hinder my ability to cover the surface of the toast, but it didn't look like the most appetising thing to eat either. The benefit of the bar is that the green sludgy mixture is encased in some milk chocolate. Lidl's Dubai Chocolate spread ended up being quite tasty (Image: Newsquest) You don't get that here, with my mum saying it looked like I had put fish paste on a bit of toast. However, to my surprise, the actual taste was genuinely quite good. Recommended reading: It was fairly sweet, and the crunchy parts of it complemented the toast really well. As mentioned previously, I wasn't too enamoured with Lidl's version of the chocolate bar, so the spread outdoes it in almost every way. If you're a fan of the bar anyway, I can imagine you'll like this, but if you weren't quite onboard, this may persuade you.
Western Telegraph
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Western Telegraph
I tested Lidl's new Dubai Chocolate spread and it was a treat
Officially called Della Sante Dubai-Style Chocolate Cream, this follows on from the supermarket launching their own version of the TikTok-famous bar earlier in the year. You may have seen the original confection on the social media platform in the past year or so, as it went viral with many people trying it. Created by Sarah Hamouda of FIX Dessert Chocolatier in 2021, it combines pistachio nuts and milk chocolate alongside some Middle Eastern flavours. Lidl released a £3.99 version of this with the J.D. Gross Dubai-Style Chocolate bar on their TikTok shop on March 20. A limited stock of 6,000 bars was sold out within an hour, with around 72 bars being purchased per minute, according to the supermarket. Due to its popularity, Lidl made the bars available to buy in its stores at the end of the same month. Now it has launched a 190g jar of Dubai Chocolate spread, which can be purchased for £3.99. I was interested in seeing how this spread would stack up to the bar, so I tested it out. I tested Lidl's new Dubai Chocolate spread Back in March, I compared the regular Lidl Dubai Chocolate bar from the supermarket with a more expensive £15 one and wasn't exactly impressed with either of them. Therefore, my expectations were perhaps somewhat lowered for the spread, where I was merely hoping it would rise above being a bit boring. The Lidl Dubai Chocolate spread comes in a 190g jar (Image: Newsquest) Lidl's Della Sante Dubai-Style Chocolate Cream combines Kadayif pastry and chocolate to create a thick, crunchy spread. While you could use the spread on anything of your choosing, I just went for the classic option of putting it on a piece of toast. The spread didn't look the most appetising (Image: Newsquest) The thickness of the spread didn't hinder my ability to cover the surface of the toast, but it didn't look like the most appetising thing to eat either. The benefit of the bar is that the green sludgy mixture is encased in some milk chocolate. Lidl's Dubai Chocolate spread ended up being quite tasty (Image: Newsquest) You don't get that here, with my mum saying it looked like I had put fish paste on a bit of toast. However, to my surprise, the actual taste was genuinely quite good. Recommended reading: It was fairly sweet, and the crunchy parts of it complemented the toast really well. As mentioned previously, I wasn't too enamoured with Lidl's version of the chocolate bar, so the spread outdoes it in almost every way. If you're a fan of the bar anyway, I can imagine you'll like this, but if you weren't quite onboard, this may persuade you.
South Wales Guardian
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- South Wales Guardian
I tested Lidl's new Dubai Chocolate spread and it was a treat
Officially called Della Sante Dubai-Style Chocolate Cream, this follows on from the supermarket launching their own version of the TikTok-famous bar earlier in the year. You may have seen the original confection on the social media platform in the past year or so, as it went viral with many people trying it. Created by Sarah Hamouda of FIX Dessert Chocolatier in 2021, it combines pistachio nuts and milk chocolate alongside some Middle Eastern flavours. A post shared by Lidl GB (@lidlgb) Lidl released a £3.99 version of this with the J.D. Gross Dubai-Style Chocolate bar on their TikTok shop on March 20. A limited stock of 6,000 bars was sold out within an hour, with around 72 bars being purchased per minute, according to the supermarket. Due to its popularity, Lidl made the bars available to buy in its stores at the end of the same month. Now it has launched a 190g jar of Dubai Chocolate spread, which can be purchased for £3.99. I was interested in seeing how this spread would stack up to the bar, so I tested it out. Back in March, I compared the regular Lidl Dubai Chocolate bar from the supermarket with a more expensive £15 one and wasn't exactly impressed with either of them. Therefore, my expectations were perhaps somewhat lowered for the spread, where I was merely hoping it would rise above being a bit boring. The Lidl Dubai Chocolate spread comes in a 190g jar (Image: Newsquest) Lidl's Della Sante Dubai-Style Chocolate Cream combines Kadayif pastry and chocolate to create a thick, crunchy spread. While you could use the spread on anything of your choosing, I just went for the classic option of putting it on a piece of toast. The spread didn't look the most appetising (Image: Newsquest) The thickness of the spread didn't hinder my ability to cover the surface of the toast, but it didn't look like the most appetising thing to eat either. The benefit of the bar is that the green sludgy mixture is encased in some milk chocolate. Lidl's Dubai Chocolate spread ended up being quite tasty (Image: Newsquest) You don't get that here, with my mum saying it looked like I had put fish paste on a bit of toast. However, to my surprise, the actual taste was genuinely quite good. Recommended reading: I compared Lidl's Dubai Chocolate bar to a £15 one but which one was best? I tested Aldi's new 'wine of the summer' and almost lost all my street cred I compared Aldi and Lidl staples to big brands – the ones I now can't live without It was fairly sweet, and the crunchy parts of it complemented the toast really well. As mentioned previously, I wasn't too enamoured with Lidl's version of the chocolate bar, so the spread outdoes it in almost every way. If you're a fan of the bar anyway, I can imagine you'll like this, but if you weren't quite onboard, this may persuade you.
South Wales Argus
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- South Wales Argus
I tested Lidl's new Dubai Chocolate spread and it was a treat
Officially called Della Sante Dubai-Style Chocolate Cream, this follows on from the supermarket launching their own version of the TikTok-famous bar earlier in the year. You may have seen the original confection on the social media platform in the past year or so, as it went viral with many people trying it. Created by Sarah Hamouda of FIX Dessert Chocolatier in 2021, it combines pistachio nuts and milk chocolate alongside some Middle Eastern flavours. Lidl released a £3.99 version of this with the J.D. Gross Dubai-Style Chocolate bar on their TikTok shop on March 20. A limited stock of 6,000 bars was sold out within an hour, with around 72 bars being purchased per minute, according to the supermarket. Due to its popularity, Lidl made the bars available to buy in its stores at the end of the same month. Now it has launched a 190g jar of Dubai Chocolate spread, which can be purchased for £3.99. I was interested in seeing how this spread would stack up to the bar, so I tested it out. I tested Lidl's new Dubai Chocolate spread Back in March, I compared the regular Lidl Dubai Chocolate bar from the supermarket with a more expensive £15 one and wasn't exactly impressed with either of them. Therefore, my expectations were perhaps somewhat lowered for the spread, where I was merely hoping it would rise above being a bit boring. The Lidl Dubai Chocolate spread comes in a 190g jar (Image: Newsquest) Lidl's Della Sante Dubai-Style Chocolate Cream combines Kadayif pastry and chocolate to create a thick, crunchy spread. While you could use the spread on anything of your choosing, I just went for the classic option of putting it on a piece of toast. The spread didn't look the most appetising (Image: Newsquest) The thickness of the spread didn't hinder my ability to cover the surface of the toast, but it didn't look like the most appetising thing to eat either. The benefit of the bar is that the green sludgy mixture is encased in some milk chocolate. Lidl's Dubai Chocolate spread ended up being quite tasty (Image: Newsquest) You don't get that here, with my mum saying it looked like I had put fish paste on a bit of toast. However, to my surprise, the actual taste was genuinely quite good. Recommended reading: It was fairly sweet, and the crunchy parts of it complemented the toast really well. As mentioned previously, I wasn't too enamoured with Lidl's version of the chocolate bar, so the spread outdoes it in almost every way. If you're a fan of the bar anyway, I can imagine you'll like this, but if you weren't quite onboard, this may persuade you.
