Trader Joe’s is joining in on the viral Dubai chocolate bar craze.
A Trader Joe’s employee revealed in a TikTok video that the grocery chain would begin selling the candy for the low price of $3.99.
A spokesperson for Trader Joe’s revealed in a statement to The Independent that the chocolate bars will be available starting the week of May 26, with the exact release dates varying by location.
“We believe that customers ‘vote’ on what they love — and what they want to see more of — with their dollars. In other words, if our customers really love this product, we can certainly get more,” the statement read.
Dubai chocolate is a bar of milk chocolate stuffed with a creamy concoction of pistachio cream and shredded pastry known as kataifi. However, the Trader Joe’s version will reportedly be made with dark chocolate. It will also be produced by Patislove, a food group brand that specializes in handcrafted chocolates.
The high-end bar was launched in 2021 by boutique Emirati chocolatier FIX, but became a global sensation in 2023 thanks to TikTok.
Posted at the end of 2023, the clip has now been viewed more than 120 million times, spawning thousands of follow-up videos in which creators taste the treat for themselves or make their own.
Major chocolate brands such as Lindt and Läderach also made their own versions of the viral sensation.
Fans expressed their excitement over the new Trader Joe’s item hitting shelves in the Trader Joe’s subreddit on Reddit.
“Omg I finally tried Dubai chocolate at a store and felt like the milk chocolate made it less better than it could have been. Hopefully this will change it!” one person wrote.
Another commenter agreed, writing, “Oh good! I’ve been wanting to try this!!!!”
However, due to the popularity of the Dubai chocolate bar, there was an international shortage of pistachio kernels last month, which are largely grown in the United States or Iran.
The shortage has seen prices surge. In one year, prices have risen from $7.95 to $10.30 a pound, Giles Hacking, from nut trader CG Hacking, told the Financial Times.
“The pistachio world is basically tapped out at the moment,” he said.
The rise of Dubai chocolate has only made matters worse, given that pistachios were already becoming scarce due to last year’s poor harvest in the U.S.
Hacking told the publication: “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.”
