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Dubai chocolate, branded as Can't Get Knafeh of It, is a chocolate bar with a filling made of kadayif (knafeh) and pistachio. It was first created by Fix Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai in 2024 and became popular and promoted after being advertised by influencers on social media.

History

Fix Dessert Chocolatier was founded in Dubai in September 2022. Sarah Hamouda, who founded the company Fix Dessert Chocolatiers in the Emirate of Dubai in 2021, claimed to be the creator of the Dubai chocolate. She said she wanted to produce chocolate bars for her new company that combines different textures and flavors and where the filling of the chocolate bars is the focus to differentiate her company from the competition. The Dubai chocolate was originally sold under the name "Can't Get Knafeh of It" and is still sold by that name by Fix Dessert Chocolatiers.

Dubai chocolate first gained widespread popularity when on December 18, 2023, an influencer under the name mariavehera257 posted a video on TikTok lasting just over a minute, showing her eating various types of chocolate from Fix Dessert Chocolatiers. A year later, this video had over 100 million views, and many other influencers also posted photos of the chocolate and created videos of themselves eating Dubai chocolate.

The complex production and increasing demand caused high prices. This led to individuals buying Dubai chocolate in bulk from shops and producers and then reselling it on the secondary market for many times the original price. Some shops then introduced more strict quantity limits. Due to the increasing shoplifting in many stores, staff now only give out Dubai chocolate upon request. There have also been reports of burglary to get chocolate bars.

Because Dubai chocolate is mainly sold in America, Asia and Europe, but produced in the Middle East, there have been cases of smuggling of chocolate bars. In October 2024, smugglers were caught twice within a few days by Austrian customs, smuggling around 2,540 bars of 200 grams each across the border without paying customs duty. In November 2024, a smuggler tried to bring 45 kilograms of Dubai chocolate across the border near Weil am Rhein.

Ingredients

Dubai chocolate is made from milk chocolate and is filled with a sweet cream made from pistachios mixed with finely chopped kadayif. Dubai chocolate is produced as a flat chocolate bar weighing around 100 grams, which is easily breakable into small pieces, but due to the rich filling, it is not as flat as chocolate tablets without a filling.

Legal disputes

From mid-2024, more chocolate producers became aware of Dubai chocolate. In addition to Fix Dessert Chocolatiers, other manufacturers such as Lindt also began to produce and market the chocolate. This has led to legal disputes over trademark rights and geographical indication in some countries.

As the Dubai chocolate market grew, it was also registered as a trademark by various individuals and companies. The European Union Intellectual Property Office, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the German Patent and Trade Mark Office recorded over 14 registrations containing the name Dubai chocolate.

Since the name of Dubai chocolate could possibly suggest that it is produced in Dubai and thus contains a geographical indication, the German importer company Wilmers, which itself imports Dubai chocolate for Edeka, among others, issued a cease-and-desist letter to the manufacturer Lindt in November 2024 because it does not produce in Dubai. Cease and desists to other companies such as Aldi Süd and Lidl followed. There have been no court rulings so far and the outcome of possible legal proceedings is controversial, since according to some legal scholars the term Dubai chocolate is now a generic trademark and does not contain any geographical indication. Also, even while geographical indications are in principle protectable under the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement, the United Arab Emirates, to which Dubai belongs, have not even signed this agreement.

Experts' conclusions

According to a recent study by the Austrian Ministry of Consumer Protection, samples of “Dubai chocolate” imported into the EU from the Emirates and Turkey may contain substances hazardous to health, namely mold toxins (aflatoxins) in samples with pistachio filling, replacement of real chocolate with foreign fat (in five out of eight samples tested). It was found that this fat may be unsuitable for human consumption due to contamination associated with production. Also, undeclared allergens such as sesame seeds were found in the product, which can be extremely dangerous for people with relevant allergies.

See also

• List of chocolate-covered foods
• List of candies

References

1. ^ Michollek, Nadine (10 December 2024). "Trending treat 'Dubai chocolate' — but who owns the name?". dw.com. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
2. ^ Cairns, Rebecca (18 June 2024). "Meet the woman behind Dubai's viral super-chunky chocolate bar". edition.cnn.com. CNN. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
3. "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
4. Carstensen, Linda (7 November 2024). "Falstaff Exclusive: An Interview with Sarah Hamouda, Creator of Dubai Chocolate". falstaff.com. Falstaff. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
5. "Can't Get Knafeh of It – Fix Dessert Chocolatier". fixdessertschocolatiers.com. Fix Dessert Chocolatier. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
6. "'Can't Get Knafeh of It': Viral 'Dubai Chocolate' sparks global craze fueled by social media". jpost.com. The Jerusalem Post. 26 November 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
7. Weiss, Sabrina (23 August 2024). "A 'Dubai Chocolate Bar' Is Going Viral on TikTok — How the Green Filling Is Made and Where to Find It in the U.S." people.com. People magazine. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
8. "First TikTok Video of Dubai Chocolate". tiktok.com. TikTok. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
9. "What's behind the viral 'Dubai chocolate' craze". trtworld.com. TRT World. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
10. "Dubai-inspired luxury: Lindt's limited-edition chocolates are selling for incredible prices on the secondary market". trademagazin.hu. 22 November 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
11. Specks, Tim (10 November 2024). "Dubai-Schokolade aus Luxus-Mercedes geklaut". bild.de (in German). Bild. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
12. "Schmuggel mit Dubai-Schokolade aufgeflogen" (in German). Der Spiegel. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
13. "Weil am Rhein: Mann will 45 Kilogramm Dubai-Schokolade nach Deutschland schmuggeln". swr.de (in German). Südwestrundfunk. 21 November 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
14. Ilgar, Oyku (12 December 2024). "How The Dubai Chocolate Sensation Is Creating A Supply Chain Strain". Forbes. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
15. ^ Dietrich, Pauline (11 December 2024). "Muss "Dubai-Schokolade" aus Dubai kommen?". lto.de (in German). Legal Tribune Online. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
16. "Dubai chocolate and the trademark law". balsvogel.com. Bals & Vogel. 25 November 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
17. Ullrich, Ann-Kathrin (14 December 2024). "Aldi und Lidl: Wegen Dubai-Schokolade! Jetzt kommt es knüppeldick". derwesten.de (in German). Der Westen. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
18. "Markenstreit um Dubai-Schokolade: Deutscher Importeur mahnt Hersteller Lindt ab". businessinsider.de (in German). Business Insider. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
19. KooDe (2024-12-23). "Дубайский шоколад: смак традиції з ОАЕ". Topical in Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2024-12-26.

External links

• Website of Fix Dessert Chocolatier

• Chocolate bars
• Chocolate confectionery
• Chocolate-covered foods
• Chocolate desserts
• Convenience foods
• Emirati inventions