Dubai Chocolate: A surge in popularity turned into massive complaints – what’s happening

The wave of popularity of Dubai chocolate began in February 2024 with a viral ASMR video by TikTok blogger María Vejera, where she eats a bar in a car. The video obtained more than 56 million views, hundreds of people began to film their “reactions” to this chocolate. In the United Arab Emirates, Fix Dessert Chocolatier began producing voluminous chocolate bars filled with unusual ingredients.

Explosive demand for Dubai chocolate

In Russia, in the summer of 2024, demand for Dubai chocolate was still low. According to Moneyplace analyst (part of the Kontur ecosystem) Anastasia Romanova, this is a relatively new product for the market, notable sales of which began only in the summer of 2024, but until October we were talking about one-time orders.

“Until October, sales of sweets were at the same level: about 4 chocolates were sold per day in the Wildberries market warehouse, the market itself is also small; Currently there are between 200 and 400 product cards from 50 to 90 brands. ”Romanova said.

Since the beginning of October, Moneyplace has recorded a sharp increase in sales of Dubai chocolate in the markets. From October 1 to 20, 2024, the sales volume amounted to 5.4 million rubles for 4.2 thousand tiles from the Wildberries market warehouse and more than 350 thousand from the Ozon market warehouse, analysts reported.

According to the analytical service Anabar, the query “Dubai Chocolate” generated revenue of 5 million rubles per month (and loss of income of 879 thousand rubles), while in total about 4 thousand orders were placed and the competition in this segment : 452 products in total. Most of the orders came from two cards from the same seller; Dubai chocolate with pistachio filling sold for 2.7 million rubles in a month.

• As Anabar explained to RB.RU, the loss of income of almost 1 million rubles is a lot, which indicates good demand and low supply. It is true that the main demand is concentrated around one brand, which probably indicates its popularity or external advertising. Loss of income appears when the product is out of stock, but there is demand, but this is a very conditional value, because it is impossible to accurately calculate the loss of income: not everyone adds the product to the waiting list.

Following the sales, the price of chocolate also increased, says Moneyplace. The average purchase invoice increased from 561 rubles (July-September period) to 2,175 rubles from October 17 to 20.

So far, the share of Dubai chocolate sales in the markets in the total chocolate sales volume is small, according to Moneyplace calculations. At WB, market warehouse chocolate sales amount to 175.3 million rubles per month, with sugar-free chocolate in the lead, as well as confectionery chocolate, the average income per category is 738 rubles. Dubai chocolate represents 3% of the assortment in this segment.

The total chocolate sales volume of the Ozon market warehouse is 239 million rubles per month with an average income of 450 rubles, the service indicates. Belgian chocolate remains the best-selling product at Ozon. Dubai chocolate represents only 1.7% of the chocolate assortment on the market.

There are more and more complaints.

As demand grows, so does the number of complaints about the quality of chocolate. In the markets, among products whose cost reaches 4.6 thousand rubles, you can find dozens of angry reviews about the quality of the product and its taste, buyers doubt the authenticity of chocolate;

For example, buyers report that after eating chocolate for 1,500 rubles a bar, their stomach turned, but they could not identify the manufacturer.

One of the buyers of chocolate for 4.5 thousand rubles per 200 grams made a video in which he shared his deteriorating health.

“I immediately feel thirsty. I suspect they could have put something there,” said the video’s author.

“The chocolate came in a box without any information. There is no name or date of manufacture. We just have to wait and believe that the chocolate is fresh,” said the buyer of the bar for 2 thousand rubles. “Fake, return the money”, “terrible chocolate”, “thin bar that falls apart”, “not original”, report other buyers who paid between 900 and 4 thousand rubles. Also, under the mosaics for 4.5 thousand rubles you can find messages about “dubious filling.”

On October 21, the Telegram channel “Shot Check” published a story from one of Dubai’s chocolate buyers about Quincke’s edema that allegedly occurred after consuming it. The woman provided a video showing that she was eating chocolate from a well-known Moscow pastry shop that is sold through an online store. After the first bite, the customer felt itchy in her mouth, then choked and started coughing. The client’s eyelids swelled and she began to lose consciousness. According to the channel, a team of doctors arrived to help and the victim was given injections of an antihistamine. According to the woman, the cause of the reaction was the pistachio paste in the dessert, which could cause an allergy.

RB.RU sent a request to Rospotrebnadzor. The service explained that they do not yet plan to take any measures, since the allergic reaction is not associated with violations of epidemiological and sanitary standards. The store where the customer bought the chocolate did not respond to RB.RU’s request at the time of publication of the material. Roskachestvo RB.RU explained that the product is not yet very popular on the Russian market, no research has been carried out on it.

How to buy the original

Wildberries commented on the emergence of complaints about Dubai chocolate. According to the press service of the market, by accepting the offer, sellers of the market confirm that their products comply with all the norms of the legislation of the Russian Federation and the rules of the site.

Wildberries is also actively involved in an experiment with RosAccreditation. The department has already verified more than 12 million products: links to certificates or declarations of conformity are uploaded to product cards, confirming their safety. Products whose originality has been proven carry the “Original” icon, which means that the seller has provided a valid contract, delivery payment information and other documents, the company explained.

“The Market has the right to request the necessary documents from sellers if they receive requests from relevant government bodies. If the seller does not provide them, cards with goods for which documents have been requested will be blocked. We also launched a special filter with products whose authenticity has been confirmed to make purchasing more convenient for users. We also recommend buyers pay attention to the seller’s evaluation of the product and carefully study the opinions of other buyers; This will help verify the quality of the product by receiving first-hand information,” Wildberries said.

In Ozón and “Yandex Market did not respond to RB.RU’s requests.