UK supermarket chain Waitrose has introduced a cap on the number of bars of Dubai-style chocolate customers can buy.
The pistachio-packed treat, which originated in Dubai but has been mimicked by many manufacturers, became a viral sensation as social media users, food lovers and content creators shared videos of the oozing chocolate bars. One TikTok video showing the kunafa-inspired treat has been viewed more than 90 million times.
Fix Dessert Chocolatier, founded by British-Egyptian entrepreneur Sarah Hamouda, began the craze for the chocolate named Can’t Get Knafeh of It in 2021. Swiss chocolatier Lindt created its own version and introduced a limited run of the £10 ($12) bars in some UK stores in December, with the product selling out quickly.
After it returned to stores on March 23, Waitrose has decided to limit purchases to two bars for every customer.
It has installed signs in stores reading: “Lindt Dubai-style chocolate: no more than two bars per person please … because we want everyone to have the chance to enjoy this delicious chocolate. Thanks for your understanding.”
The move was highlighted by Steve Dresser, chief executive of the consultancy firm Grocery Insight, who shared an image of the label on LinkedIn saying “selling out is sometimes a good thing”.
He said Morrisons first capitalised on the trend in the UK, followed by Lindt and Lidl.
While Waitrose had introduced a limit, Sainsbury’s has not, he added. “Trying to generate scarcity perhaps?”
However, Waitrose insisted it was trying to regulate stock. More of the chocolate bars are expected to arrive next week.
“Due to the incredible popularity of this product, we want to make sure that as many customers as possible have the opportunity to try it,” a Waitrose spokesman told industry magazine The Grocer.
Lindt executives previously said it was getting involved with Dubai-style chocolate to show the nearly 180-year-old Swiss chocolatier can expand the boundaries of an industry largely dominated by European companies. Lindt UK & Ireland chief executive Joel Burrows described the response as “overwhelming”.
Battle for control of the “Dubai chocolate” market has resulted in court action in Germany, as retailers look to cash-in on demand. One German businessman selling €30 ($30.80) bars of chocolate “handmade in Dubai” secured a legal win this year when a court banned supermarket chain Aldi from selling a version made in Turkey.
Meanwhile, a woman who arrived at Hamburg airport had 90kg of luxury Dubai kunafa chocolate confiscated by customs officials because it was subject to hundreds of euros in import duties.
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
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Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
More on Quran memorisation:
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
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Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
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How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Tom Fletcher on 'soft power'
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
