If Dubai is known for one thing, it is for being a game-changing city. From culinary trends to the world’s most expensive anything, the birthplace of the viral Dubai Chocolate bar introduces lovers of the fashionable sweet to a whole, new dimension of the dessert: edible until now, Dubai Chocolate becomes wearable too, as two of Dubai’s perfume powerhouses put it in a bottle and turn it into a perfume that is already creating a buzz in the Middle East.
Oud al Anfar introduced the release of its original Dubai Chocolate perfume in February, with some calling it “a rare find” and “THE perfume release of 2025.” It is described as an Arabian gourmand fragrance, with a rich blend of pistachio, kunafa, nuts and caramel—basically, most of Dubai Chocolate’s main ingredients. Chocolate is found in its base notes, along with vanilla and amber. As a writer in Gulf Buzz put it, the perfume smells “like stepping into a high-end Middle Eastern patisserie!”
The perfume, packaged in a mint-colored bottle with chocolate drops all over it, promises to “take you on a sensory journey through the heart of Dubai’s most famous chocolate delight.”
It was a matter of time before Al Hajis Perfumes, a Dubai luxury fragrance house, followed suit and in March 2025 unveiled its own Kunafa Pistachio Perfume.
Created by perfumer James Rudolph, the limited-edition scent is a tribute to the delicious viral dessert. Described as “a harmonious co-existence of pistachios, kunafa, hazelnut, cocoa and vanilla,” it captures the soul of a freshly-baked kunafa straight out of the oven.
The fragrance that brought the beloved treat to life in a bottle created a buzz among perfume enthusiasts and marked another new trend born in Dubai. It made its debut at Dubai Festival City Mall and comes in a funky, playful box that resembles a Dubai Chocolate wrapping.
Dubai Chocolate, the chocolate bar stuffed with aromatic pistachio cream and crispy kadaifi shreds (also known as kunafa), is much more than last year’s viral sweet that took the globe by storm. It has turned into an absolute craze and everyone wants a piece of it—consumers a bite of the scrumptious sweet, and manufactures a bite of its booming sales.
Dubai Chocolate, as its name proclaims, originated in Dubai, though several social media users say it existed long before British-Egyptian entrepreneur Sarah Hamouda came up with the idea. Her Dubai-based Fix Dessert Chocolatier had long been creating handmade, filled chocolate bars, including some flavored with vanilla custard, caramel and fudge, and Nutella brownies. But it was the pistachio-cream bar that gave her company traction, along with the actual Dubai chocolate bar. Within months of a famous food blogger posting a viral TikTok video in early 2024, Dubai Chocolate became omnipresent across all social media platforms. The video has millions of views, with users posting thousands of videos related to the Dubai Chocolate trend—from recipes to new variations.
In fact, the hype around the viral dessert has been so high that, according to Turkish media, prices of Turkiye’s famous Antep pistachios have risen by 20 percent driven by rising demand linked to the Dubai Chocolate trend.
