SINGAPORE. Hugely popular Dubai Chocolate brand FIX is set to make its debut tomorrow (3 November) at Changi Airport, Singapore with travel retailer Focus Network Agencies (FNA).
FIX was famously created by Dubai-based Sarah Hamouda and Yezen Alani, wife and husband Co-founders of FIX Dessert Chocolatier after Hamouda sought to satisfy her pregnancy-driven cravings for knafeh (the original hit bar is called ‘Can’t Get Knafeh of It’ bar) and pistachio.
Can’t Get Knafeh of It was the original ‘Dubai Chocolate’, a tagline that grew out of the chocolate’s viral popularity on social media.
Its smash-hit status subsequently prompted a flurry of local and international imitators, effectively creating a sub-category in its own right.
FNA, founded in 1991 by Group CEO Paul Loo Lip Giam and Executive Director Esther Tang-Loo, has grown from being the distributor of two agency lines to a much-respected Asia Pacific chocolate and confectionery retailer (The Coca Trees at Changi Airport) and distributor.
The company will introduce FIX at Changi Airport via a pop-up activation.
Dubai-based Imagine FMCG, which supports FIX and other FMCG brands seeking to grow in 28 markets across three continents, announced the Changi opening on LinkedIn.
Imagine FMCG is helping FIX expand outside Dubai. For the Changi Airport breakthrough, it worked with Rajiv Malhotra [the much-respected Singapore-based confectionery sector veteran who founded his own sector agency business Lead in Travel Retail in January 2021 after almost 23 years in senior Asia Pacific roles with Mondelēz World Travel Retail and its predecessor Kraft Foods – Editor].
Imagine FMCG Marketing Manager Middle East & Africa Demi Tresita said in a LinkedIn post: “We’re thrilled to share that FIX will soon be landing at Changi Airport.
“It’s been months of behind-the-scenes planning, coordination, and creativity with the amazing Team FNA and Rajiv Malhotra. From design approvals and production to logistics and retail setup, every detail has been a true team effort.
“Seeing a home-grown Dubai brand make its way across the world and into one of the most iconic airports feels surreal. This milestone represents more than just expansion, it’s a reminder of what collaboration, persistence, and belief in your brand can achieve.”
Dubai Chocolate continues to drive Dubai Duty Free resurgence
FIX has enjoyed huge popularity since its pistachio katafi chocolate bars burst onto the Middle East scene in 2022, after FIX Dessert Chocolatier’s founding the previous year.
As reported, Dubai Chocolate – led by FIX – has enjoyed astounding success with Dubai Duty Free since being introduced in October 2024.
Record first-half sales of AED4.118 billion (US$1.128 billion) were spurred by an extraordinary, Dubai Chocolate-driven +62.7% year-on-year rise in total confectionery sales (to a 10% share of total Dubai Duty Free revenue).
That momentum has been impressively maintained since. As revealed by The Moodie Davitt Report yesterday, Dubai Duty Free posted an all-time October sales high of AED805.6 million (US$220.7 million) – the travel retailer’s eighth record month in 2025 – as the confectionery category posted its highest-ever monthly sales at AED78 million (US$21.4 million).
That performance, in turn, was underpinned by the continuing Dubai Chocolate dynamic with the now-recognised sub-category generating October sales of AED34 million (US$9.3 million) with 428,000 pieces sold, equivalent to 71 tonnes across nine brands.
FNA leaders will be licking their lips at such numbers as will, more literally, Changi Airport passengers as they enjoy a new form of chocolate FIX. ✈
