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Dubai chewy cookies fly off the shelves, but small bosses still eat losses

Published: 03 Feb. 2026, 17:01 Updated: 03 Feb. 2026, 17:08

A sign at the front entrance of a restaurant in Seoul advertises the sale of Dubai chewy cookies. [NOH YU-RIM]

The Dubai chewy cookie craze has swept across Korea, but behind the viral dessert lies a grim reality for self-employed business owners who sell it at a loss just to keep customers coming through the door.

A handwritten sign reading “We sell Dubai chewy cookies” hung on the front door of a pork stir-fry restaurant in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi, on Monday, advertising the dense, sticky dessert made with layers of kataifi (shredded Middle Eastern phyllo dough strands) pastry, pistachio cream and chocolate, inspired by Middle Eastern sweets.

The restaurant started selling about 50 cookies a day earlier this year as dinner crowds thinned due to fewer gatherings and persistent inflation.

“I sell them only to dinner customers, but they sell out every day and help bring people in,” the owner, surnamed Koo, said. “Some customers even come specifically to get takeout just to buy the cookies."

A fad spreads beyond bakeries

The dessert has turned into a nationwide fad. Bakeries and cafes now sell the cookies alongside kimchi stew restaurants, sushi shops, dumpling stores and even hardware shops.

Dubai chewy cookies [LEE JI-YOUNG]

Behind the popularity, however, many small business owners say they face mounting challenges just to stay open. Prolonged inflation, a weak won, high interest rates and rising labor costs have made it difficult to maintain operations, pushing owners to introduce so-called bait products to draw customers.

The strategy, however, often fails to generate profits.

Costs rise faster than sales

At a cafe in Geumcheon District, southern Seoul, the owner sells each cookie for 6,500 won ($4.50), but ingredient costs exceed 4,500 won. Imported materials such as kataifi pastry, pistachios and cocoa powder have surged in price, while packaging and labor costs deepen losses with every sale.

“All employees come in five hours early to make the cookies, and the workload is overwhelming,” the owner said. “There is no profit, but I am trying to lift overall sales and hope customers buy something else as well."

The broader struggles of the self-employed also appear in national statistics.

The share of self-employed workers among total employment has declined steadily since peaking at 28.1 percent in 2001. The ratio remained above 20 percent during the Covid-19 pandemic but fell into the 10 percent range for the first time in 2024 at 19.8 percent and dropped further to 19.5 percent last year.

A sign at the front entrance of a cafe in Seoul advertises the sale of Dubai chewy cookies. [NOH YU-RIM]

Rising exchange rates have pushed up the cost of imported ingredients.

International pistachio prices stood at $8 per pound in January, up about 50 percent from a year earlier. In Korea, import prices jumped from 6,800 won to 12,700 won per kilogram over the same period.

“Pistachio prices rose from 30,000 won per kilogram last summer to 90,000 won this year,” said a bakery owner in Seongnam, Gyeonggi. “Even then, the earliest delivery date I can secure a supply is Feb. 21. Most baking ingredients have surged, so I reduced the number of items on the menu."

Labor costs add further strain. After a 16.4 percent jump in 2018, the minimum wage has risen by more than 4 percent annually on average and now stands at 10,320 won per hour.

A convenience store owner surnamed Kim in Gangseo District, western Seoul, said they are considering closing the shop due to labor costs. The store operates 24 hours a day with five part-time workers and posts monthly sales of about 76 million won.

Night-shift workers receive 15,480 won per hour, and weekday overnight pay including mandatory weekly allowances — legally required paid rest-day wages for employees who work at least 15 hours a week — has risen from 2.48 million won five years ago to 2.91 million won today.

“Even after excluding what I pay myself for daytime work, the overnight part-timer earns more than my take-home profit,” Kim said. “I’m thinking of shutting down and working part-time myself."

Some owners turn to kiosks, ordering tablets or serving robots to cut labor costs, only to face the prospect of steep penalties for breaking a contract.

LG's CLOi ServeBot [YONHAP]

A grilled fish restaurant owner in Yongin, Gyeonggi, signed a five-year rental contract for a serving robot at 400,000 won a month. When business failed and the owner closed the shop after two years, they had to pay a 7.2 million won early termination fee.

Debt and closures mount

High interest rates further weigh on owners who relied on government-backed loans introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The loan delinquency rate for self-employed business owners with annual revenue under 30 million won rose from 1.28 percent in 2023 to 2.03 percent in 2024, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

A leasing sign hangs on a building along a major road in central Seoul on Jan. 25. [NEWS1]

Payouts from the Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid Fund, a government-backed safety net that functions as retirement and closure compensation for small business owners, also reached a record high.

As of November last year, 98,600 closures triggered payouts totaling 1.38 trillion won, with the full-year total expected to exceed 100,000 cases, according to the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business.

“Short-term loan support policies will not fix a startup market already in disarray,” said Kwon Se-hwan, the head of the Defense Entrepreneurship and Technology Institute. “The government needs decisive policies to support viable businesses and allow others to exit the market."

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHOI HYUN-JU, LIM SUN-YOUNG AND NOH YU-RIM [[email protected]]