Costco Shoppers Just Spotted Boxes Of A Certain Viral Chocolate

Since a 2023 TikTok video made Dubai chocolate go viral the world has been scrambling to get a taste. The chocolate stands out for its creamy filling, which is made with white chocolate, pistachios, tahini paste, and kadayif (a popular Middle Eastern dessert). Originally made by Fix Dessert Chocolatier, the product is only available in the United Arab Emirates — and this unavailability made it that much more desirable. 

Because of the unexpected boom, Fix's orders went from about six a day to hundreds per minute. To meet that demand, numerous copycats started popping up. Some were from home cooks, while others were from large companies like Lindt. Other people bought boxes of Dubai chocolate and then exploited the wave of popularity by reselling it for much higher prices.

Apparently, Belgian chocolatier Bouchard has joined the game, and is selling Dubai chocolate in Costco, of all places — at least, according to social media. Costcohotfinds posted a video that showed the viral chocolate in the warehouse chain. The user explained that they found it in a Michigan store and specified in the comments that it was in Livonia. One commenter said that they saw it in Novi, another Michigan city, but commenters from different states wrote in frustration that they hadn't seen it at their local Costco. The box in question had 41 pieces (though the original Dubai chocolate is a bar), which the poster described as smooth yet crunchy because of the pistachios.

Of course, Bouchard's Dubai chocolate isn't the original one, though the ingredients seem to be similar. And since Bouchard is well-respected, we're sure that the very elusive Costco find is worth buying (in bulk!). But the find is also somewhat suspicious, since the box can't be found on the company's official website, nor is it promoted in any of its recent Instagram posts. So what's going on? It's difficult to say. It may be that the brand is testing how Dubai chocolate performs before they do an official launch. They might also be launching it quietly so as to not attract attention (and potential problems) for copying the viral product.

Whatever the reason for its scarcity, if you're lucky enough to find the product, don't hesitate to try it. In the more likely case that your local Costco doesn't carry it, you can buy the store's new giant chocolate chip cookie as a consolation prize. If you manage to find the original product while visiting the UAE or in a secondary market, make sure that you savor it the correct way (yes, there is a right way of tasting premium craft chocolate).

In any case, it's interesting to see a chocolate bar that sells for $18.50 achieve such popularity. Given that our chocolate supply might be in trouble due to low supply and high ingredient costs, we may have to get used to this being the normal price of chocolate.