Is a mango-flavoured bar set to be the next viral Dubai chocolate?


Farah Andrews
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We are in the middle of mango season here in the UAE, and that seems to have inspired Fix Dessert Chocolatier.

The confectionery company behind the ubiquitous Dubai Chocolate launched a new flavour on Friday. Time to Mango is a white chocolate bar filled with mango, passion fruit and popping candy.

Crowds gathered at Mall of the Emirates in Dubai to be among the first to try the new flavour of chocolate from the viral brand.

The new sweet treat will be available on Deliveroo from June 16, costing Dh72.25.

One Mall of the Emirates shopper, among the first to try it out, told The National that it was “extremely sweet” but that the fruit filling manages to “cut through”.

They added: “The popping candy is a fun retro touch – it reminds me of some of my favourite childhood sweets.”

Crowds gather at Mall of the Emirates in Dubai for the launch of Fix Dessert Chocolatier's new mango flavoured bar. Antonie Robertson / The National
Crowds gather at Mall of the Emirates in Dubai for the launch of Fix Dessert Chocolatier's new mango flavoured bar. Antonie Robertson / The National

Fix Dessert Chocolatier co-founder Sarah Hamouda believes every bite of the bar “is different”.

She said: “When we’re developing a new recipe, we think of each bar as having its own unique sensory experience. How does it look? How does it taste? How does it feel? More importantly, how does this progress with each bite?”

Viral mango desserts

Time will tell whether Time to Mango will be as much of a phenomenon as the brand's original pistachio offering, but based on crowds gathered at the launch, it already seems to be popular.

Mango-flavoured products also have a strong track record of going viral, specifically the Chinese Propitious Mango ice cream. The creamy treat in the shape of the fruit made by Hong Qi was a viral sensation in 2024. Like the Fix bar, it is coated in white chocolate, but contains a sorbet-like filling. In the UAE, the ice cream is available at Carrefour for Dh14.79.

Fix began with its famed Can't Get Knafeh Of It bar, a milk chocolate bar filled with pistachio and kunafa. Since then, it has inspired a string of similarly flavoured bars, including Galaxy Pistachio Kunafa and a Lindt bar filled with pistachio butter and kadayif. Before the new Time to Mango bar, shoppers could buy chocolate-dipped dried mango at both Marks & Spencer and Patchi.

The Fix-prompted Dubai chocolate trend has become something off a global craze. Away from chocolate bars, Krispy Kreme has a Dubai chocolate flavour doughnut, which it is now keeping as a permanent fixture on the UAE menu. Baskin‑Robbins has a range of Dubai Chocolate Royale menu items that includes a cake, sundae and takeaway pint of ice cream.

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63% - percentage of Arab nationals who said they get their news from social media every single day.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

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Updated: June 13, 2025, 2:53 PM