Dubai Chocolate Founder: “We Had 30,000 Orders in 1 Hour!” | Sarah Hamouda
Sarah Hamouda made international headlines when a video of her over-the-top “Dubai chocolate” bar went viral, leading to an astonishing 30,000 orders in just one hour As the co-founder of Fix Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai, Hamouda turned a personal craving into a global dessert craze practically overnight. In a recent interview, she reflected on this whirlwind journey and shared valuable business lessons learned along the way. From trusting her gut to handling a flood of orders, Hamouda’s story offers insight into what it takes to build a viral brand and survive explosive growth.
Building a Viral Brand
A variety of Fix Dessert Chocolatier’s signature extra-filled chocolate bars, each packed with unique flavors and adorned in vibrant packaging. The eye-catching design and indulgent ingredients helped the brand stand out on social media.
Hamouda attributes her brand’s virality to a few core principles and strategies:
Trust Your Intuition: One of Hamouda’s top pieces of advice for entrepreneurs is to believe in yourself and go with your gut feeling. She notes that no one understands your vision better than you do. In her case, the concept of a thick, “extra-filled” chocolate bar was unorthodox, but her intuition told her it would resonate. By confidently pursuing her idea even when it was unconventional, she created a product that struck a chord with millions. Trusting your intuition can give you the courage to take bold, creative steps that set your brand apart in a crowded market.
Focus on the Product: Hamouda emphasizes that the product or service itself is the most important element of any viral brand. “People are drawn to our bars because they evoke nostalgia and deliver a unique experience... the diverse textures and high-quality ingredients make each bite memorable,” she explained. She put tremendous effort into perfecting the Fix chocolate bar’s recipe – a blend of childhood-inspired flavors, premium ingredients, and novel textures – to ensure it would wow customers. Nailing the quality of your ingredients and execution is crucial for success. Even as countless imitators popped up around the world riding the trend, Hamouda remained laser-focused on keeping Fix products unique and of the highest quality. Her takeaway: let your offering speak for itself through exceptional quality and a distinctive twist; virality will follow if the product truly delivers delight.
Build a Strong Team and Community: Going viral is not a solo endeavor. Hamouda stresses the importance of surrounding yourself with great, positive people and fostering a strong community from day one. At Fix Dessert Chocolatier, she and her co-founder (who is also her husband) built a small team that was passionate and adaptable. This supportive internal team culture helped them tackle challenges under pressure. Equally important was the community of early customers and fans that Fix nurtured through social media and word-of-mouth. Those enthusiastic supporters amplified the hype by sharing their experiences and stood by the brand when it faced growing pains. Hamouda believes that cultivating a loyal community around your brand creates a safety net – these are the people who will celebrate your highs, forgive your stumbles, and keep the momentum alive. In short, success is a team sport: the positivity and commitment of your team and community can propel you to virality and help sustain it.
Navigating Unexpected Growth
When a business blows up overnight, it faces a whole new set of challenges. Hamouda candidly recounted how she handled the explosive growth that came after Fix’s chocolate bars became a sensation:
Be Prepared for Anything: The viral TikTok moment that put Fix on the map was as thrilling as it was overwhelming. In the hour that their video took off, 30,000 orders poured in – and shockingly, they had no chocolate bars left in stock at that moment! Hamouda admits they were caught off guard by the sheer volume of demand. The experience taught her never to get too comfortable: absolutely anything can happen, so you have to stay nimble and ready to adapt. When their inventory ran out, the Fix team quickly pivoted to handle pre-orders and ramp up production as fast as possible. For other entrepreneurs, Hamouda’s story is a lesson that preparedness isn’t just about having extra stock on hand – it’s also about mindset. Expect the unexpected and be ready to think on your feet. A sudden spike in demand can be a great problem to have, but only if you can respond before the opportunity (and customer excitement) slips away.
Don’t Rush to Expand: Despite the clamoring of thousands of new customers, Hamouda chose to scale up very cautiously. It might have been tempting to immediately open a huge factory or take on every order around the globe, but she resisted that impulse for the sake of the brand’s long-term health. Hamouda knew that expanding too fast could compromise the quality and exclusivity that made her product special. “We’re working on scaling our production while maintaining quality standards,” she said, prioritizing careful growth over instant expansion. In fact, even after the viral surge, Fix maintained a limited supply strategy: in Dubai, they did two small online restocks per day, selling through Deliveroo, and each batch would sell out within minutes. By keeping the product somewhat scarce and not overextending, they protected their standards and mystique. Hamouda’s approach underscores that you don’t have to (and shouldn’t) say yes to every opportunity at once. Grow slowly, protect your brand’s reputation, and make sure each step of expansion is sustainable. This patience can be hard when demand is sky-high, but it’s vital to avoid diluting what made you successful.
Handle Crises with Care: Viral success often comes with inevitable hiccups. In Fix’s case, the crush of traffic at one point crashed their online ordering platform, leading to confusion and frustration among would-be customers [09:04]. Rather than panic or go silent, Hamouda and her team tackled the crisis head-on with transparency and empathy. They immediately communicated with their customers via social media and email, explaining the technical issues and apologizing for the inconvenience. The team promptly issued refunds to anyone who was charged without receiving their order, and assured everyone that they were working hard to fix the problems and restock. This thoughtful, customer-focused response helped mend broken trust. Many initially upset customers were impressed by the honesty and effort to make things right, and vowed to try ordering again once the system was back up. Hamouda’s advice: when things go wrong, own the mistake and go above and beyond to take care of your customers. By handling a crisis with care and communication, you can turn a negative situation into an opportunity to build even greater loyalty. Ensuring customers feel heard and valued makes them more likely to stick around despite bumps in the road.
Final Thoughts
Sarah Hamouda’s journey from a modest Dubai dessert startup to leading a global viral brand offers a masterclass in both ambition and resilience. She proved that trusting your vision, delivering a standout product, and rallying a positive support network can spark something as powerful as hundreds of millions of views and worldwide demand for your creation. Just as importantly, her experience shows the value of staying grounded when lightning strikes – being ready to seize the moment, but also wise enough to scale carefully and put customers first.
For entrepreneurs hoping to replicate this kind of success, Hamouda’s key learnings serve as a roadmap: believe in your idea, perfect your craft, build your tribe, and prepare to adapt. Viral fame can indeed transform a business in an instant (sometimes bringing 30,000 orders in an hour!), but as Hamouda demonstrated, it’s how you channel that explosive momentum into sustainable growth that truly defines long-term victory. By remaining true to her intuition and principles even under extreme pressure, she turned a one-hour viral flash into a thriving enterprise – a feat that any business founder can aspire to emulate.