When trendy turns into trouble: The nuttiness around Dubai chocolate

Few things in life are ever guaranteed, but when a food trend takes off, one thing is certain, new products are never far behind.

If you’ve been on social media in the last year or so, you’ve probably seen the hype around Dubai chocolate. What began as a once-unknown dessert, the pistachio and crunchy kataifi-filled bar has quickly become a viral phenomenon, leading to a surge in demand for pistachio-flavoured products.

Naturally, many brands have been quick to jump on the trend.

There are Dubai-style products which can be found in bakery goods, spreads and confectionary. This trend has now reached the freezer section, with Australian ice cream brand Connoisseur launching its newest Pistachio Gelato.

On the surface, the move appears to be a departure from the brand’s usual ice-cream format, offering customers something new and trendy. But how novel is it really compared to its sibling products?

Nut based flavours are not unfamiliar territory for Connoisseur, with variants such as Roast Hazelnut and Caramel Honey Macadamia already offered in their portfolio. This raises an important question: will having a Pistachio gelato attract new customers to their brand, or will it simply cannibalise sales from other existing products – including the nutty variants?

The short answer is yes, cannibalisation will likely occur, but this is not as big a problem as you may think.

Research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute shows that cannibalisation is an inevitable part of new product launches, since portfolio variants often serve overlapping consumer needs. This is particularly true for products with similar attributes, as customers tend to see them as more interchangeable.

Studies have also revealed that most buyers of new products are already existing customers of the parent brand, rather than entirely new ones.

So if similar products merely shuffle sales within the same brand, what purpose do they really serve in a portfolio?

Of course, there are other reasons for introducing new products, such as leapfrogging competitor products, defending shelf space, or even to create excitement with retailers. However, these benefits need to be carefully weighed against the risk of cannibalisation.

At the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, we are currently exploring how products from the same brand portfolio interact with one another.

By understanding this, brands can continue to manage the performance of its products more efficiently, as well as make more informed decisions behind future product innovations.

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