Sitting at a table in Royal Roastery, Hussein Abdelghani scrolls through the shop’s TikTok account, rapt as he clicks through the most-viewed videos that he curates himself five days a week: 3 million, 2.3 million, 1.3 million.

Nearby, buckets of pistachio cream imported from Jordan are stacked high into cylindrical towers. On the other side of the Middle Eastern shop, tucked into a strip mall in Terrytown, are striking treats showcased behind glass: Dubai chocolate bars, meticulous fruit-shaped pastries, and 12 white chocolate Labubus — the snaggletoothed elf dolls that have become a global craze.

Online trends like Labubus, fruit-shaped desserts and Dubai chocolate are no longer confined behind phone screens; they’ve carved a path into the real world and are profit-making machines. Roy

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