Would you pay $59 for a 200g chocolate bar?
For months, Mr Mohd Taj kept seeing videos online of people cracking open a unique-looking chocolate bar oozing a bright-green pistachio cream filling.
Interest piqued, the 41-year-old decided he would get his hands on the chocolate bar – called Can’t Get Knafeh of It – to find out for himself what the craze was all about.
The 200g sweet treat’s hefty price tag – it is sold in Singapore for $59 by retailer SGFR – did not deter him, since it was a “try once” occasion, he said.
The verdict? A thumbs-up from Mr Taj, who works in the podcast industry.
“The combination (of flavours) in the chocolate was unique,” he said. He added that he enjoyed the pairing of soft milky chocolate, which was “not too sweet”, with crunchy bits of kataifi – a crispy pastry used in a Middle Eastern dessert known as knafeh or kunafe.
The chocolate, produced by Dubai-based Fix Dessert Chocolatier, is difficult to get. It is officially sold only in Dubai at AED68 (S$24), and at two time slots – 2pm and 5pm – each day.
Despite being founded in 2021, the unique dessert became a global phenomenon only after a February ASMR-style video of TikTok food influencer Maria Vehera eating a bar in her car went viral – it has more than 80 million views – and inspired others to film their own reactions.
As the bars are handmade, there is a limit to how much the Fix team can produce daily, reported CNN, hence its exclusivity.
In Singapore, the nearly 150 per cent SGFR mark-up is so that the company can still make “some profit” from sales after taking into account the high cost of bringing it here, said its founder Mohamed Haikkel Firdhaus.
Mr Haikkel, 22, told The Straits Times that the chocolates must be kept cold throughout the importing process, which needs to be rushed due to their short shelf life.
By the time the product arrives in Singapore, SGFR has about 15 days to clear the chocolates from its shelves, said Mr Haikkel.
Thankfully for him, this has not been a problem so far. Each time SGFR brings in stock, said Mr Haikkel, the bars sell out within a week.
Despite the chocolate’s popularity, Mr Haikkel is cognisant of its high price, and so, he said, SGFR will be bringing in cheaper alternatives, including a $25 version by another Dubai-based company, Chocolate Creations, to its stores.
Checks by The Straits Times found that resellers on online platforms like Facebook and Shopee are also selling Fix bars at prices ranging from $40 to $65 per piece.
In response to an ST query, the Singapore Food Agency said that online platform sellers are not required to have a licence to sell pre-packaged food products, but must source their products from licensed importers or be licensed importers themselves. Food safety requirements under the Sale of Food Act and Environmental Public Health Act must also be complied with.
Ms Mirah, who gave only her first name and works in the student services industry, purchased a Fix bar for $50 from a reseller on Instagram. She said she also tried different versions of the chocolate from other resellers online, for about half the price, but that “nothing has come close to the taste of the original”.
Although she enjoyed the original Fix bar, Ms Mirah said she would make another purchase only if she “truly craves it”, owing to its cost.
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