Product promotion on TikTok is now powerful enough to influence the vast agricultural economies of the US and Iran – at least when it comes to the consumption of high-end confectionery.
A chocolate bar stuffed with a creamy green pistachio filling has become incredibly popular after a series of video clips shared on the social media site. The first bit of footage praising the taste of the expensive so-called “Dubai chocolate” was posted at the end of 2023 and has now been viewed more than 120m times, to say nothing of the many follow-up videos.
The result has been an international shortage of the vital ingredient, pistachio kernels, which are largely grown in either the US or Iran. In a year, prices have surged from $7.65 to $10.30 a pound, Giles Hacking, from nut trader CG Hacking, told the Financial Times.
The nut was already becoming scarce due to last year’s poor harvest in the US, the world’s leading exporter. Although that crop was smaller than usual, it was of higher quality and so was largely sold as whole nuts, still in their shells. This has created a further shortage of the basic kernels used in the chocolate bars.
Iranian producers, meanwhile, had exported 40% more nuts to the UAE in the six months to March than they had in the 12 months prior to that.
Dubai chocolate mania can be sourced to the creation of a bar that combined milk chocolate, the shredded pastry known as kataifi, and a pistachio cream filling. Made by the swish Emirati chocolatier Fix, which only sells in the UAE, it was prophetically given the punning name Can’t Get Knafeh of It, in reference to a traditional Arab dessert.
Other leading chocolate makers, such as Läderach and Lindt, quickly created their own pistachio chocolate products, but are now struggling to meet international demand. Charles Jandreau, the general manager for Prestat Group, which owns several luxury British chocolate brands, told the FT that the demand for the bars has surprised the industry. “It feels like it came out of nowhere,” he said. “Suddenly you see it in every corner shop.”
Some stores are reportedly rationing the number of bars sold at one time. Testament, then, either to the power of TikTok influencers, or the rather more established appeal of tasty chocolate.
