Tuam twist on chocolate craze

Demand is expected to drop once fad fades

A TUAM chocolatier selling his own version of Dubai chocolates says it’s a fad created by social media which might pass away soon.

Frank Reynolds has been running his small chocolate shop named ‘Orange Chocolates’ in Tuam town for the last ten years.

The town’s favourite chocolatier produces many different varieties of handmade chocolates loved by his customers.

Frank first heard about Dubai chocolates when a couple reached out to him looking to buy chocolate moulds. They told him about this chocolate that was trending on social media and making good profit for the producers.

Curious Frank also started to investigate the trend to find out why this type of chocolate is so popular.

“They told me that there was a craze out there for this Dubai chocolate bar and it sells for about €15 to €20 per bar.

“When I heard it, I thought I better look into it. After some research I found out the ingredients being used in it and started experimenting with the recipe.”

Following multiple trial and error experiments, Frank finally managed to create what is now being sold at his shop as ‘Dubai Chocolates, Tuam Version’.

Dubai Chocolate was first created to satisfy the pregnancy cravings of a Dubai based British-Egyptian entrepreneur, Sarah Hamouda. She created the pistachio and tahini infused bar to satisfy cravings of her childhood favourite dessert ‘Knafeh’.

Knafeh is a filo pastry which is one of the key ingredients of this chocolate alongside pistachio paste and tahini (sesame seed paste).

First created in 2021, the chocolate went viral on social media after some influencers started posting videos of themselves eating the delicious chocolate bar.

Frank told The Tuam Herald about how his online sales for this chocolate went beyond expectations when an influencer visited his shop and posted a video about the chocolate on her social media account.

“I later found out that she was an influencer and after she uploaded the video our online shop went mad for ten hours until we shut it down. It made me good money, but I won’t be able to sell it on a similar scale when this fad finishes.”

Frank is running a small shop where he works alone and makes 80 per cent of the products himself.

He believes that he doesn’t have enough time to mass produce one thing as this will lose him the well-established customers for other products.

Along with the original Dubai Chocolates made with Pistachio, Frank has also created his own versions with Hazelnuts and Caramel which are equally amazing.

Chocolates at Orange chocolates in Tuam are made using good quality ingredients and are sold at affordable prices.

Frank is also cautious about customers stockpiling and only sells a limited number of chocolate bars to one person.

“I have had people come in and say they want eight bars or ten bars, but I had to turn them down and tell them that they could have only two or three bars because I have other customers who want them as well.

“I opened this shop because I wanted to have something to do after retirement and I don’t have any ambitions to make it into a big business or something. This is a place for me to come in every day, make some chocolates and have a chance to meet people,” Frank smiled.