The Global Travel Retail category is big business for upmarket alcohol brands and luxury chocolate goods. And yet, it’s not an easy market in 2025: a pandemic hangover is still in the rear view mirror, while geopolitical tensions and instability make for an uncertain world.
And yet, against that backdrop, Lindt’s Dubai Style Chocolate catapulted to instant success in travel retail: setting the chocolatier up for a much brighter future in the sector.
Dubai Chocolate has taken the confectionery world by storm over the past 18 months: as the creation took global hold with social influencers.
The milk chocolate, stuffed with pistachio crème and pastry, is inspired by the Middle Eastern sweet treat kadaif.
And Lindt quickly saw the opportunity offered by Dubai Chocolate and turned it into a massive success story for the Global Travel Retail sector.
Flying success
Lindt launched Dubai Style Chocolate in Zurich airport – its flagship travel retail location - in December 2024, in partnership with Global Travel Retail giant Avolta.
The launch was an instant success: so it was quickly introduced to Geneva, where it found the same insatiable appetite from consumers.
Lindt quickly scaled up the innovation to more than 100 airports around the globe: and it became the top selling SKU for Lindt in travel retail in the first six months of 2025.
As of November 2025, sales have surpassed 2.2 million tablets since launch.
So what’s been the key to success?
Trendspotting on TikTok
First of all, it’s keeping an eye on top trends and being ready to embrace them.
At Lindt, it was a Tik-Tok savvy apprentice who spotted the potential of Dubai Chocolate on social media. And the rest of the team at Lindt – from the master chocolatier who came up with samples, to the CEO who green-lit the idea – were keen to listen and quick to get on board.
“We made 1,000 bars and they sold out in no time in our German store. Then we did it again in Switzerland. And the whole story starts,” said Peter Zehnder, Lindt head of global travel retail, speaking at the annual TFWA event in Cannes this year.
Glitz and glamor
While Dubai Style Chocolate isn’t exclusive to travel retail, there’s also something about Dubai chocolate that makes it ideally suited to the channel.
The reference to Dubai already alludes to glamor, excitement and innovation. Dubai’s status as a world hub for travel also helps build the sense of adventure and discovery.
And the product itself has a lot to offer consumers: the chocolate is elevated to the quality and silky-smooth product Lindt is known for; with rich pistachio butter and then the crispy kadayif, offering a complex and indulgent experience for all the senses.
Then there’s the distinctive look to the packaging: the green packaging references the pistachio while the gold details add the glamor, together creating an instantly-recognizable concept in airport stores.
But Lindt’s launch goes beyond the product. Like the rest of the FMCG industry, travel retail is increasingly becoming not just about products but experiences. And Lindt’s activations for Dubai Chocolate embraced this.
In Geneva Airport, Lindt created a 360° activation strategy combining personalized tastings, brand storytelling and digital content. Ambassadors showcased the craftsmanship and indulgence of the product with tailored advice and tastings. A Lindt Digital Smile Machine completed the experience.
Social media played another important part. Dubai chocolate was already bit on social media: Lindt’s Dubai Style Chocolate took this up a notch with plenty of pre-launch teasers.
Dubai Style Chocolate was not a product sat on shelves, hoping to catch the attention of bored travellers passing by. It was a product that travellers were eagerly seeking out.
“The Dubai chocolate created a lot of pre-travelling noise,” said Zehnder. “I was in Zurich, Malaysia, Buenos Aires… shoppers were already asking the staff for Dubai chocolate. Such demand is incredible.”
Portfolio expansion
Lindt has turned Dubai Style Chocolate into a portfolio of products, with two new formats launching in the last few weeks.
Dubai Style Chocolate Countline embraces the on-the-go snacking occasion; while Dubai Style Chocolate Pralines offers a premium souvenir or gift.
Speed, agility and collaboration
Lindt values its relationships with its trade partners and says that leveraging those is important.
“Stay agile, co-create new concepts [with our trade partners], test and learn, fail fast,” said Zehnder. “And then, when we see we have a golden nugget like Dubai chocolate, we need to execute together.”
And Lindt isn’t resting on its laurels: it’s launched Dubai Style White Chocolate to keep the buzz, excitement and sense of something new around the treat.
Dubai Chocolate has transformed Lindt’s outlook on travel retail.
The pandemic years left a substantial hangover for the global travel retail sector. No-one in the industry expects the next few years to be plain sailing.
But for Lindt, Dubai Chocolate has created a new leash of life to buck the trends in style.