The Dubai Dessert Craze Isn’t Over Yet: Why Retailers Are Still Obsessed [Trend Recipe]

According to The Financial News, the rollout of new Dubai-style dessert products is continuing into the new year. The Dubai Chewy Cookie craze, which began last year, even led to a shortage of key ingredients before the hype briefly cooled. However, retailers and food companies expect the popularity of Dubai Chewy Cookies and other Dubai-style items to continue for some time.
As of the 21st, industry sources say convenience stores and café franchises are introducing new Dubai-style desserts and beverages.
emart24 is launching new products to build on the success of the Dubai Chewy Cookie. At the end of last year, its Chocolate Castella Kataifi Mochi and Chocolate Kataifi Mochi immediately took the top two spots in dessert sales, becoming major hits. Their weekly sales kept climbing. By increasing the amount of kataifi to boost crunchiness while maintaining a chewy texture, the products won over consumers.
This month, emart24 has already released 10 new Dubai-style items in quick succession. The goal is to interpret the Dubai concept across various categories and keep the dessert boom going. Product names such as "Dukakeu" (Dubai Kataifi Cream Bread) and "Dukasan" (Dubai Kataifi Chocolate Cream Sandwich) are all shortened to three syllables to make them feel more familiar. The flagship item, Dukakeu, is the first convenience-store product to reimagine the popular cream bread in a Dubai style. emart24 is betting on Dubai-style items as it aims to become the number one convenience store for desserts.
Café franchises are also rolling out Dubai-style offerings.
A Twosome Place has introduced a new dessert called "Scoopable Duabak" along with two beverages. Duabak combines the Dubai concept with Abak, the brand’s original scoopable cake that helped spark the trend for spoonable desserts. Layers of pistachio, kataifi, and pistachio ganache cream are stacked to maximize a crunchy texture.
The accompanying Pistachio Chocolate Mocha is a café mocha topped with pistachio cream, chocolate pearls, and kataifi. The Pistachio Chocolate Gelato Shake blends a pistachio chocolate shake with chocolate gelato and kataifi. Earlier this month, the brand also launched Duchoosaeng Mini, a mini version of its signature whole cake Seuchosaeng (Strawberry Chocolate Fresh Cream) combined with Dubai chocolate. The item drew 130,000 pre-orders and sold out in just five minutes, underscoring its popularity.
TheVenti has released three beverages: Dubai Cold Brew Einspänner, Dubai Chocolate Shake, and Dubai Chocolate Yogurt Ice Cream. It is also offering Dubai Chocolate Salt Bread and Dubai Chewy Cookie as dessert menu items.
Dubai Chewy Cookies became so popular in the second half of last year that people lined up before opening hours, creating an "open-run" phenomenon. Prices of key ingredients such as pistachios, marshmallows, and Middle Eastern-style shredded pastry kataifi surged, although the pace of price increases has recently slowed and the frenzy has eased somewhat. Even so, profit margins on hit dessert items like the Dubai Chewy Cookie remain high, so the industry is still banking on the Dubai-style trend.
An industry insider said, "Dessert trends like Tanghulu and salt bread are cycling faster and faster, but the overall appeal of the dessert category remains strong, so companies will keep experimenting with a wide range of new products."
unsaid@fnnews.com Kang Myung-yeon Reporter