"Dubai chocolate": this is how much interest there is in the social media hype

The "Dubai chocolate" has gone viral on social media in recent months, especially on Tiktok. The term refers to a chocolate creation from Dubai with a filling of pistachio cream and Turkish pastry threads - the original is not yet available in Germany. This is likely to increase curiosity even more, as the chocolate is still a mystery and a secret for many. This fact encourages many food influencers and amateur chefs to try out the recipe and make the trendy chocolate themselves.

German supermarkets are jumping on the bandwagon and offering counterfeit bars in their product range on the one hand, and combining the individual ingredients on exposed sales counters on the other. But what is the situation among German consumers - how well known is the mysterious chocolate from Dubai in the population as a whole, and what are the attitudes of chocolate lovers and other target groups?

According to the Yougov target group segmentation tool Yougov Profiles, a good one in four Germans (27%) have heard of chocolate. Among chocolate fans, i.e. those who eat chocolate several times a week or even daily, two in five (40 percent) say they have. 38 percent of chocolate fans are very interested in trying chocolate. Here, too, there is a clear difference to the population as a whole: among all Germans, one in five (21%) are still very curious to try chocolate. 3 percent of regular chocolate eaters in Germany say they have even tried chocolate (compared to less than 1 percent of the total population).

Chocolate connoisseurs are young and female

Since "Dubai chocolate" came about as a social media trend, the following finding may come as little surprise: Chocolate connoisseurs, i.e. those who have heard of "Dubai" chocolate, tend to be younger: 38 percent of connoisseurs are aged 18 to 34 (vs. 24 percent total population). A disproportionately high number of women are also among the connoisseurs: 57 percent (vs. 51 percent of the total population).

The "Dubai chocolate" aims to exude exoticism, a feeling of distance and luxury. Chocolate connoisseurs are very open-minded about luxury: 36% consider luxury goods to be a good investment (compared to 31% of the overall population), and 58% value luxury goods as high-quality products (compared to 54%). 18 percent of connoisseurs own products from Chanel (vs. 12 percent), 15 percent from Dior (vs. 11 percent), 11 percent from Cartier (vs. 7 percent) and 12 percent from Prada (vs. 8 percent of the total population).

It is therefore possible that buyers of chocolate bars, which are sold every day in German supermarkets, are not at all familiar with the new hype. For example, current Ritter Sport customers are more likely than the general population to say that they have not heard of "Dubai chocolate" (76% vs. 70%). The same applies to current Milka customers: 73% are not familiar with the exotic chocolate creation (compared to 70% of the overall population).

In contrast, current Lindt customers show a significantly higher interest in "Dubai chocolate" compared to the population as a whole (59% vs. 48%). In comparison, interest among buyers of Milka and Ritter Sport (51% each) and among those of Kinder Schokolade (52%) is only slightly higher than that of the population as a whole. The Lindt brand sees itself as a premium chocolate manufacturer and does not want to appeal to a financially weak target group.

In other words: chocolate manufacturers beware. Ordinariness is not for the fans. They want mystery, exoticism, the unknown, a bit of luxury from the wide world and, above all, they want an interesting social media experience. For our local chocolate companies, this means mixing exotic ingredients with a pinch of excitement, a good story, fresh faces and a price that is affordable but not perceived as cheap.