Dubai chocolate trend: How WGSN predicted your latest craving

From January to March 2025, #dubaichocolate flooded our feeds, amassing 13.8bn views on TikTok. We give you a taste of the action by showing you how this trend emerged and how WGSN predicted it. To understand this trend, we need to start by looking at textures and the rising flavour of pistachios.

2020
In 2020, WGSN forecasted that Modern Arabic Cuisine would rise outside of its traditional region and called out the dessert Knafeh and ingredient pistachio as ones to watch. Alongside taste, we flagged this trend because of the textures. The flaky pastry of Knafeh and the crunch of pistachio were indicative of a wider trend: the need for stimulating textures. We pointed to the opportunity for texture across categories, particularly in chocolate.

2023 
Fast-forward to 2023 and our Cuisine & Flavour Forecast 2025. Our forecast predicted that consumers in 2025 would seek out more experimental flavour combinations. We highlighted the opportunity for contrasting flavours and textures to come together in unusual pairings to provide newness and excitement.

2024 
In early 2024, we called out pistachios as a widening opportunity across food and drink. We also highlighted the growing potential for stimulating textures, such as crunchy, stretchy, fluffy and creamy. During this time, pistachios also started to take off across various categories, including bakery, dessert, cocktails and chocolate. 

2025
By 2025, pistachios had become mainstream, with Google searches increasing by 35% from January to March. During the same period, the Dubai-based chocolatier FIX Dessert’s ‘Dubai Chocolate,’ which combines crunchy knafeh, pistachios, and smooth milk chocolate, went viral. Although it was initially launched in 2021, searches for ‘Dubai Chocolate’ surged by 128% worldwide between January and March 2025, prompting many brands, retailers and grocers to launch their own versions to meet the rising demand.

What’s next for this trend?
 

Texture remains a key opportunity for innovators, delivering fun, experimental and social media-friendly formats. Aimed particularly at the younger generations, brands should adopt an unserious approach to food and drink. We called out how Enhanced Mouthfeel is an evolving opportunity to step up the physical sensations from food and drink products to deliver unexpected playfulness and escapism.

Do you want to know what the next viral food trend might look like? Request a demo to find out how WGSN can help you.