Dubai: Pregnancy cravings drove British-Egyptian Sarah Hamouda to create a viral sensation – the Original Dubai Chocolate. Today she's won the Dubai-it Award for that creation.
On October 24, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, announced that Hamouda’s business, FIX Dessert Chocolatier, was the recipient of the Dubai-it Award for Projects in the Field of Business.
The award recognises how FIX turned a home business into a global commercial venture that helped establish a whole new chocolate category: Dubai Chocolate.
Hamouda, who married her husband Yezen Alani, in 2014, and moved to Dubai in 2015, invented the Original Dubai Chocolate out of pure necessity. During her pregnancy, she had intense cravings for a sweet treat that couldn’t be found on supermarket shelves.
By experimenting and fusing traditional Middle Eastern flavours of pistachio and knafeh (shredded phyllo pastry), with premium chocolate that she has loved since childhood, she pioneered Original Dubai Chocolate – a viral phenomenon that has gained attention all over the world.
Hamouda and Alani went on to co-found FIX Dessert Chocolatier in 2021. Alani leads the team’s strategic planning and operations, and is also the inspiration behind some of FIX’s best-selling bars – and their eye-catching names – including popular flavours, Time to Mango, Can’t Get Knafeh Of It, Butter To Be Safe Than Salty, and Baklawa II The Future.
In just 15 months, the company reached more than 2 million customers and sold over 6.5 million pieces of chocolate.
The phrase ‘Dubai Chocolate’ has become one of the most searched products on global search engines, and the ‘Dubai Chocolate’ hashtag recorded 13.8 billion views in three months. It has also become part of the product ranges of hundreds of global brands, and has reached more than 100 airports around the world. Sales of Dubai-style chocolate grew by 1,234% in a year.
In his post on X, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan acknowledged the global impact of FIX. He wrote: “Dubai Chocolate has reached markets around the world and more than 100 airports. This is Dubai-it – turning a simple home-based business into a venture that has made its mark on an entire global industry. Congratulations to the FIX Dessert team.”
Before launching their business, Hamouda trained as an engineer and worked in education as a consultant to British schools for over a decade. She grew up in London, and earned a degree in engineering from Middlesex University, before relocating to Cairo in 2011, and later, to Dubai in 2015.
Alani, who is of British-Iraqi descent, grew up in London and holds a bachelor’s of science degree from the University of Greenwich, where he studied building surveying. He worked in QHSE (quality, health, safety, and environment) management, before leaving it behind to run FIX full time.