![On Tuesday, May 20, the popular food chain Raising Cane’s opened its doors to the public at their new Framingham location. Eager customers, including Framingham residents, people from neighboring towns and several WHS students, rushed to 253 Cochituate Road throughout the day to get their hands on some crispy chicken. “I think the community at large is very excited [and] a lot of the people that work here are directly from the community,” Leader of Recruiting, Fry Cook and Cashier at Raising Cane's, Julio Polanco said. “Lots of energy, lots of questions and lots of curiosity leading to [opening day].”](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-21-at-1.50.53 PM-e1747850453554-1179x1200.png)
![Troy Hoyt finishes the Boston Marathon, running for the Hoyt Foundation. T. Hoyt is the son of Hoyt Foundation CEO Russ Hoyt.
“[Running a marathon] might seem like a big thing, when it’s presented to you at first, but if you break it up and just keep telling yourself, “Yes, you can,” you can start chipping away at it. And before you know it, you’ll be running the whole 26 miles, and you won’t even think twice about it.” T. Hoyt said.](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/C36E8761-1CBB-452E-9DF2-543EF7B1095E_1_105_c.jpeg)
The rise of Dubai Chocolate in the past three years has mirrored the pattern of many food microtrends. With the help of social media, the chocolate bar filled with a pistachio kataifi filling has exploded into an internet sensation.
The original Dubai Chocolate came from a brand called “FIX Dessert Chocolatier”, which is based in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. The origin? Owner Sarah Hamouda would get pregnancy cravings for something sweet. She would send her husband into Dubai to get different types of chocolate. She claimed none of them gave her the “fix” for her cravings, hence the name “FIX Dessert Chocolatier.”
Most commonly the Dubai Chocolate Bars are milk chocolate filled with shredded phyllo dough, or kataifi, mixed with pistachio cream. This combination of the kataifi and pistachio flavor is what makes the trademark filling that viewers ogle at, contributing to a desire amongst viewers to try the bar for themselves.
Whether intended or not, social media has been spreading advertisements for these bars in the form of popular “Mukbangers,” or people who go viral for eating food. These “Mukbangs” go viral for the autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) sensation that it triggers in its viewers. The name “Mukbangers” comes from “menokneun” and “bangsong”, two Korean words that mean “eating” and “broadcast.” On TikTok, different foods become popular in Mukbangs. Dubai Chocolate is another example of an internet sensational food. It is popular because when Mukbangers split the chocolate bar open, it reveals a crispy and sensually stimulating pistachio-kataifi filling which satisfies the viewers.
“I think it became popular because of social media, if anything is advertised on social media it becomes popular,” Wayland High School sophomore Aine Chase said. “It’s called guerilla marketing.”
The guerilla tactic uses surprise and novelty to grab the attention of customers. Social media is the perfect platform to carry this out. When people repeatedly see videos of others trying the Dubai Chocolate bar, the unfamiliarity and newness sparks the interest of viewers. This tactic effectively promotes products at a cheaper price. With young and impressionable teens being the main audience, the natural instinct is to conform and see what the “fuss” is about. This bandwagon effect is a psychological phenomenon that has humans repeating what other humans are doing in order to satisfy the urge to fit in. Many food trends follow this pattern, which is why they blow up and eventually fade away as the new food rolls in.
“It’s like if someone came out with a new Reese’s Pieces, that’s essentially what it was,” Chase said.
The cost of both pistachios and chocolate has risen in the past year. An article interviewing owner of Clovis’ Chocolate Wishes and Treats, Susie Bowen, explains evidence that the Dubai Chocolate craze has even impacted local businesses’ economies. According to the Financial Times, pistachio prices went up from $7.65 to $10.30, some of the reason being from the Dubai Chocolate craze.
“We can’t make these fast enough and we’re running out of products,” Bowen said. “I’ve never seen anything become so quickly in demand as the Dubai Chocolate Bar.”
In the same article, Bowen said that the price of chocolate has gone up 25% since this past January. Prices of Dubai Chocolate bars are quickly increasing, for the cost of a Dubai Chocolate bar now at Abigail’s Candy Shop is now $30, to be compared with what used to be a $20 dollar bar. Without the quality of product changing, people are willing to pay more in order to keep up with trends.
WHS students have also jumped on the trend, with mixed reviews.
“When I first tried it, honestly, I thought it was kind of overrated,” WHS junior Maya Vishwanathan said. “It was just chocolate with [a] crunchy inside.”
The one area that this strategy lacks in, especially once the product is moved to social media, is that once a large majority of people have tried it and given it a review, the excitement tends to wear off as people look for the next big thing. As the interest for the chocolate bar dwindles, businesses try to stay afloat with the novelty by adding in different combinations. In fact, some businesses mix the kataifi filling with birthday cake flavors, peanut butter and jelly, s’mores, pretzel and more.
Dubai chocolate variations may continue to pop up, but based on past “food trends” on social media — such as cloud bread, tanghulu, Nature’s Cereal and more – Dubai Chocolate may see a new competitor on the horizon shortly, but what will it be?
