Thick chocolate bars stuffed with pistachio flavoured Kunafa-inspired filling – this Dubai delicacy has become a viral sensation across the globe. Everyone wants to know what the chocolate, particularly its rich filling, tastes like. In a much 2020s fashion, the frenzy over the chocolate bar was triggered by a TikTok video posted in December, 2023.
While it may look that chocolatiers across the globe are in for a treat, the popularity of the product has led to a big issue – a supply crunch of pistachios, reported Financial Times.
Origin of the chocolate
The chocolate bar was launched by boutique Emirati chocolatier FIX in 2021, who named it ‘Can’t Get Knafeh of It’ after a popular dessert of the middle-east region. While the product was a mild hit back then, it was a TikTok video that led to its meteoric rise lately. The video was shared in December 2023 and garnered views over a whopping 120 million, the Financial Times report said. Since then, several people have shared their videos trying the Dubai Kunafa bar.
Because not everyone can travel to Dubai to get a taste of the original bar, chocolate companies across the globe took upon themselves to make available several knock-offs of it to satisfy the worldwide cravings and curiosity.
Pistachio prices surged
After a steep rise in the global demand for the chocolate bar, the prices of Pistachio kernel have gone up from $7.65 a pound a year ago to around $10.30 a pound now (one pound means 0.45 kg), the report said citing Giles Hacking of nut trader CG Hacking. The pistachio world is basically tapped out at the moment,” the report quoted him as saying.
Even the high prices of the chocolate bar and its various versions have not averted people from trying it out. Lindt’s version of it is priced at £10 for a 145 gm bar in the United Kingdom, which is more than double the price of its other chocolate bars, the report said. However, the popularity of the bar has triggered some shops to reportedly limit the number of it one can buy.
In India too, the chocolate bar has made a remarkable entrance. A simple ‘Dubai Kunafa chocolate’ Google search presents several options one can buy the bar from.
Not enough supply
The United States is the biggest exporter of Pistachio around the globe. According to the FT report, last year’s harvest of the nut was not up to the mark, endangering its supply. Hacking said that the crop was, however, better quality than usual, which means that there were fewer of the cheaper, shell-free nuts that are normally used in things like chocolate.
When the Dubai chocolate frenzy made its entrance, the world was already facing a shortage of Pistachio supply, making matters worse. “There wasn’t much in supply, so when Dubai chocolate comes along, and [chocolatiers] are buying up all the kernels they get their hands on . . . that leaves the rest of the world short,” FT quoted Hacking as saying.
After the US, Iran is the second-largest exporter of Pistachios. According to data from Iran’s customs office, the country has exported 40% more of the nuts to the UAE in the last six months till March 2025 than it did over a year before that.
Meanwhile, chocolatiers are struggling to keep up with the rising demand of the viral chocolate bar.
The original chocolate company behind the viral chocolate bar, FIX, also expressed concerns over being exploited by other brands and misleading customers. It described the current phenomenon as “a movement in chocolate”. The original chocolate bar remains a matter of exclusivity as the company doesn’t trade it outside UAE and it goes on sale for only two hours a day, the FT report said.
