Germans are frequently resistant to food trends. But since the end of last year, they’ve been hammered by the Dubai chocolate obsession. People all around the country have enjoyed inventive dishes inspired by the wonderfully textured chocolate bars. At Christmas markets, both young and elderly people lined up for Dubai chocolate crêpes, hot Dubai chocolate, Dubai-style roasted almonds, and Dubai churros. A booth at one of Berlin’s marketplaces even advertised a half-meter Dubai Bratwurst for €8. When Lindt, a Swiss chocolate manufacturer, released a limited edition 150g bar named Lindt Dubai Style Chocolade for €14.99, customers queued for hours at stores in Düsseldorf and Berlin.
Sarah Hamouda, a British-Egyptian business women residing in Dubai, founded Dubai chocolate when pregnant in 2021 and craving an exotic chocolate bar. She created a mixture of pistachio cream, sesame paste, and Knafeh, a traditional Arabic dessert, which she coated in milk chocolate. The colorful creations of the firm she later founded, Fix Dessert Chocolatier, became global after culinary blogger Maria Vehera shared a video of herself eating a Fix chocolate bar on TikTok in 2023. It has subsequently been seen over 100 million times.
The success of the product is causing problems at the border. Last month, customs agents seized 90kg of Dubai chocolate from a lady at Hamburg Airport. She had not paid import tariffs, and the airport customs indicated that she planned to sell them.
It is also the source of corporate lawsuits. A Cologne court recently ruled in favor of Andreas Wilmers, a Dubai-based chocolate importer who sued Aldi, a bargain grocery chain, for the selling of the low-cost “Alyan Dubai Handmade Chocolate”. Aldi sold the chocolate bars, which are manufactured in Turkey, for €3.79, far less than Mr Wilmers’ €29.99 price for his imported handcrafted items. The judge decided that buyers may infer the chocolate was created in Dubai based on its name. Aldi has subsequently removed Dubai chocolate from its online offerings. Mr Wilmers is also suing Lindt. Lindt claims that Dubai chocolate is a generic type of chocolate that can be replicated free. It is not patented.
Whatever the courts rule, the more pressing question is whether the craze’s days are numbered. Germans are typically thrifty customers, which helps explain why Aldi and Lidl, another bargain store, are so popular in the country. According to a recent poll conducted by the Institute for Generation Research, a German organization, more than 95% of respondents thought Dubai chocolate was too costly, and more than 60% stated they had no plans to buy it again.
Source: Economist
