The Red & White

On December 18, 2023, food-centric ASMR content creator Maria Vehera posted a simple video on TikTok. It depicted her opening a large, extravagant chocolate bar from a brand called Fix, and taking a few bites. Fast forward to today, and variants of that pistachio-filled chocolate bar can be found in grocery stores, candy stores, and ice cream parlors across the states, and even around the world. The food itself, which has come to be known simply as “Dubai Chocolate,” has been around for about four years. The bar was originally developed by Filipino chef Nouel Catis, then enhanced, packaged, and distributed by the aforementioned brand, Fix. Dubai Chocolate’s success shows that, in the modern world, where social media is highly developed, a single viral clip can create such an impact: from unknown to a worldwide trend.

Dubai Chocolate’s success can be chalked up to one simple reason: it looks good. Over 100 million people watched Vehera’s video and flocked to stores because of that. And it’s not hard to see why. Fix’s original bar is a delicacy, a thick pistachio paste housed in a decorated and colorful chocolate bar. It also had the benefit of being specific enough to market, but not so specific that it could become exclusive to one company. All of these aspects have made Dubai Chocolate the definitive flavor of late 2023 through 2025. You can find it anywhere from Starbucks coffee to Baskin Robins ice cream.

And it looks like Dubai chocolate is built to last. Despite the trend nearing the end of its second year, demand and sales are continuing to soar. Fix alone brought in $22 million in sales in just the first quarter of 2025. This is made all the more interesting by the fact that its success is somewhat accidental. Many multi-million dollar ideas are designed to be just that: multi-million dollar ideas. Take the Snicker’s bar. It was invented in 1930 by the Mars company, an already established business. Its success was in large part due to the fact that Mars was worth nearly half a million dollars (adjusted for inflation) at the time. Fix, on the other hand, was a relatively unknown company. Of course, we’ve seen businesses boom for numerous companies and ideas because of social media presence, but not to this degree.

The success of Dubai chocolate carries strong implications for the future of the relationship between trends and business. Year after year, these two subjects become more and more intertwined. It’s shocking to think that in twenty years, if someone were to look back on the origin of the still standing chocolate-pistachio flavor combination, they would see an ASMR TikTok video. And who’s to say that, by that time, all popular products and marketing will be rooted in social media? As strange of a reality as this is, it certainly has upsides. Social media trends can raise the potential for small companies, like Fix, to be discovered; it neutralizes the playing field.

Where Dubai chocolate goes next will say a lot about social media’s relationship with business. If it dies out, as most trends do, we will know that there is still at least some separation between the two subjects. But if it doesn’t, it will become unclear where exactly the line is drawn. So who knows, will Dubai chocolate fade away, or will it grow to be the next peanut butter and jelly?