If you’ve walked past a bakery, scrolled through Instagram, or opened a food delivery app in the past few months, you’ve probably encountered it: the Dubai chewy cookie.
A strangely addictive hybrid dessert that combines the luxurious crunch of Middle Eastern kataifi pastry + pistachio cream filling with the soft, pillowy chewiness of a giant chocolate marshmallow. Small in size. Big in price. Even bigger in popularity.
And now — very importantly — becoming noticeably more expensive.
From Viral Sensation to National Obsession
The story of how a dessert loosely inspired by Dubai chocolate managed to take over Korean dessert culture is almost textbook viral food trend material.
It started gaining serious traction last fall after several high-profile influencers and celebrities (most notably IVE’s Jang Won-young) posted eye-catching photos. From there it quietly simmered on social media → exploded in December → and by early January had become a full-blown national phenomenon.
Current reality (January 2026):
- Single cookies selling between 5,000~10,000 won (≈ $3.50–7 USD)
- Long queues, reservation-only systems, sold-out notices posted every few hours
- Delivery app Baemin showing +321% pickup orders in the first week of January compared to December
- Appearance of “Dubaicookiemap” — a real-time map showing which stores have stock right now
The Four Ingredients That Are Suddenly Very Expensive (and Very Scarce)
The Dubai chewy cookie is surprisingly ingredient-heavy for something so small.
Main components that are currently causing headaches for both home bakers and commercial producers:
- Pistachios (the most painful one)
- Kataifi (shredded phyllo dough / Turkish dry noodle-type pastry)
- Marshmallows (or high-quality marshmallow base)
- Cocoa powder (for the chocolate flavor of the outer shell)
Especially the first two are driving most of the current price shock.
Pistachio – Now Nicknamed “Green Gold”
Global situation right now:
- Poor U.S. harvest + dramatically increased worldwide demand
- Export price of U.S. pistachios → approximately $12 per pound (up from ~$8 last year)
- Domestic retail price increase example → One major supermarket chain raised 400g shelled pistachios from 20,000 → 24,000 won (+20%) in just a few months → In-shell roasted 400g currently retails around 12,980 won → equivalent to over 32,000 won/kg
And still — constantly out of stock.
Many people are now paying 100,000 won+ premiums to get 1kg quickly through personal connections or urgent deals.
Kataifi – Suddenly Extremely Difficult to Source
Kataifi (also called kadaifi / shredded phyllo) was never a hugely common ingredient in Korea before this trend.
Now?
- Jan 1–12, 2026 → Korea imported 785 tons of Turkish kataifi-containing products → +168.8% compared to same period last year
- Full year 2025 → already +20.5% increase compared to 2024
Demand is rising much faster than supply can follow → especially painful because almost all good quality kataifi still comes from Turkey
How Insane Is the Ingredient Buying Rush Really?
Some real numbers from major retailers (Dec 2025 → mid January 2026)
Emart (physical supermarkets)
- Marshmallows +289.2%
- Pistachios +174.9%
- Cocoa powder +125.7%
Gmarket (online marketplace)
- Marshmallows → about 20 times more than previous month → 115 times more than same period last year
- Kataifi → 4 times more than previous month → 17 times more than last year
- Pistachios → 1.6 times more than previous month → 10 times more than last year
The Dark Side: Speculation, Canceled Deals, Premiums & Gray Market
This level of frenzy has created several problematic side effects:
- Suppliers suddenly canceling pre-arranged B2B deals to sell at much higher spot prices
- People buying out entire shelves → then reselling on secondhand platforms at huge markups
- “Urgent need” pistachio deals being closed at +100,000 won per kg premiums
- Many small bakeries and home bakers reporting they simply cannot get consistent supply anymore
Will It Become a Permanent K-Dessert… or Just Another Flash in the Pan?
Consumer studies professor Lee Eun-hee (Inha University) analyzes the phenomenon this way:
“This is a very classic example of the lipstick effect. In times of economic uncertainty and pressure, people look for small, relatively affordable luxuries that can give them joy and a sense of reward. The Dubai chewy cookie fits perfectly into this pattern.”
She adds a very important observation:
“Many people say it will follow the same path as tanghulu, macarons, or honey butter chips — huge boom and then rapid decline. But… if the supply and price issues can be solved to some degree, this dessert has very good potential to settle down as a long-term K-dessert category.”
Bottom Line – Get Ready to Pay More
Right now (late January 2026) the situation is very clear:
- Demand → still sharply rising
- Key ingredient supply → very tight
- Global raw material prices → significantly higher
- Korean won → relatively weak against dollar
→ Almost every serious observer expects retail prices of Dubai chewy cookies to move noticeably higher in the coming weeks and months.
The golden age of 5–7 thousand won cookies might be coming to an end faster than most people expected.
How high will they eventually go? No one knows exactly yet.
But one thing is already certain:
The price of one moment of that perfect crunchy-chewy-pistachio-chocolate happiness is becoming considerably more expensive.
