Dubai chocolate caused pistachio shortage in the world: Details

According to the customs service of Iran, the world's second-largest producer, exports to the UAE in the six months leading up to March 2025 increased by 40% compared to the entire previous 12 months.

According to Behrooz Agah, board member at Iran’s pistachio association, the shortage represents a sharp turnaround compared to 2023, when global pistachio supply exceeded demand and led to falling prices.

Due to that glut, a variety of byproducts became available, such as pistachio butter, oil, and paste, which could be used in a wide range of pistachio-based foods.

That was around the same time Dubai Chocolate was launched and gradually went viral worldwide, he added.

In California, some farmers in recent years have begun switching from almonds to pistachios, mostly due to low almond prices, but these trees will begin to bear fruit only in September of next year.

Meanwhile, chocolatiers say they cannot produce enough bars with creamy filling. It feels like it came out of nowhere, and suddenly you see it in every corner shop. No one’s ready for this, says Charles Jandreau, general manager for Prestat Group, which owns luxury UK chocolate brands.

How did Dubai chocolate become so popular?

The bars, which are a combination of pistachio cream, shredded dough, and milk chocolate, had modest success after their launch in 2021 by the Emirati boutique chocolatier FIX, until a video on TikTok turned them into a global sensation.

A clip published in December 2023 garnered over 120 million views and sparked a worldwide trend for pistachio chocolate, leading to the emergence of numerous knockoffs. Due to the hype, pistachio kernel prices jumped from $7.65 per pound a year ago to approximately $10.30 per pound now, said Giles Hacking of nut trader CG Hacking.

The pistachio world is basically tapped out at the moment, he said.

The price of Dubai chocolate and not the first pistachio shortage

Lindt’s Dubai offers retail prices of £10 for 145 grams in the UK per bar, which is twice as much as other bars.

But consumers are so interested that some stores are reportedly limiting the number of bars one buyer can purchase, while Lindt and British supermarket Wm Morrison have released Easter eggs with pistachio cream.

Pistachio stocks were already declining after a poor harvest last year in the US, the leading nut exporter. The US harvest was also of higher quality than usual, leaving fewer cheap shelled kernels that are typically sold as ingredients for chocolate and other products, Hacking said.

There wasn’t much in supply, so when Dubai chocolate comes along, and (chocolatiers —ed.) are buying up all the kernels they get their hands on ... that leaves the rest of the world short, said Hacking.

A shortage not only of pistachios but also of cocoa

Chocolate lovers had already been suffering from a cocoa shortage, which led to a nearly threefold increase in prices in 2024.

This happened due to extreme weather conditions and diseases affecting the harvest.

Producers were selling smaller-sized bars with new recipes that saved on cocoa.