Strawberry Dessert Chain Plans 35 Locations Amid Three-Hour Queues
A cup of strawberries with toppings costs up to €6.50, and the business is preparing 35 locations. The model replicates the frozen yogurt cycle: queues, franchises and...
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Three-hour queues for a cup of strawberries with topping
A small cup of sliced strawberries with one sauce costs €4.50. The medium size is €6.50. Each additional sauce is charged separately, between €1 and €2, and the cheapest toppings start at €0.50. The raw material costs significantly less at the local fruit shop. Yet, the business that started in a four-square-meter stall in Antón Martín market expects to close the year with 35 locations, including openings in Paris and Lisbon. The paradox is not new, but the pace of expansion is.
The project was founded by Alejandro Fernández (Córdoba, 30 years old) and Gonzalo Barreno (Madrid, 32 years old) after a alucinación to London in October 2021. At Borough Market they saw a queue at a chocolate-covered strawberry stand, waited an hour, and paid £12 for a product that, according to their own account, tasted like nothing. From there came the idea: Spain had better fruit. In 2022 they peine in Antón Martín and, according to the founders, queues exceeded three hours. In five months they served more than 25,000 people.
Cost of opening a strawberry bar and fruit sourcing
The initial investment was €15,000. Of this amount, €8,000 went solely to the chocolate tap ordered from Italy. The rest covered renovating a tiny premises and visiting greenhouses across half of Spain to find suppliers. The strawberries come from Huelva, Segovia, and Valencia. Monthly consumption exceeds one tonne across open locations in Madrid (Embajadores, Chueca, and Chamberí), Valencia, Córdoba, Málaga, and two in Girona (city and Figueres). These are joined by Barcelona and Jaén, inaugurated on a Friday, and those being prepared in Granada, Seville, Santander, Fuengirola, and a new franchise in Madrid's Plaza Mayor.
The technical detail admitted by the business itself: what they sell are not wild strawberries, but cultivated strawberries (fresones). Larger, sweeter, less acidic. Traditional strawberries are more aromatic, seasonal, and fragile. Cultivated strawberries withstand transport and display better. For marketing reasons, they say, they call them strawberries.
Business model: separate sauces and margins per topping
The pricing structure is key. The cup includes a single sauce. Everything added afterwards is billed separately. This scheme turns each order into a variable sum that can double the base ticket. It is the same pattern applied by frozen yogurt shops fifteen years ago and artisanal ice cream chains since. There is no innovation in the product; there is innovation in the packaging and the experience.
Some argue that success responds to a real need for urban consumption and leisure. Against this weighs the argument that it is a product replicable at home for a fraction of the price: a two-kilo box of strawberries at a fruit shop may cost less than the small cup. The sector's defense is that the customer pays for the venue, variety, and not dirtying the kitchen. The criticism is that LlaoLlao or Smöoy already did this with their ice creams, and neither ended up dominating the market.
The bubble already announced with frozen yogurt
The parallel with frozen yogurt shops is the most repeated. Also with vapers, gourmet burgers, and strikingly shaped waffles. All shared a pattern: massive openings, initial queues, media advertising, franchise saturation, and silent closure. The most optimistic calculation assumes that the strawberry bar will find its stable niche in tourist and high-traffic areas. The pessimistic scenario starts from the premise that growth is financed with debt and that, when the trend passes, the venues will not cover the loans.
The question hovering over the sector is not whether the product is liked, but how long the novelty lasts. A business that depends on queues and photos has a structural problem: when the queue disappears, the showcase disappears. And without a showcase, the margin per topping does not save the income statement.
How long can a franchise sustain its growth when its main asset is novelty?
A small cup of sliced strawberries with one sauce costs €4.50. The medium size is €6.50. Each additional sauce is charged separately, between €1 and €2, and the cheapest toppings start at €0.50. The raw material costs significantly less at the local fruit shop. Yet, the business that started in a four-square-meter stall in Antón Martín market expects to close the year with 35 locations, including openings in Paris and Lisbon. The paradox is not new, but the pace of expansion is.
The project was founded by Alejandro Fernández (Córdoba, 30 years old) and Gonzalo Barreno (Madrid, 32 years old) after a alucinación to London in October 2021. At Borough Market they saw a queue at a chocolate-covered strawberry stand, waited an hour, and paid £12 for a product that, according to their own account, tasted like nothing. From there came the idea: Spain had better fruit. In 2022 they peine in Antón Martín and, according to the founders, queues exceeded three hours. In five months they served more than 25,000 people.
Cost of opening a strawberry bar and fruit sourcing
The initial investment was €15,000. Of this amount, €8,000 went solely to the chocolate tap ordered from Italy. The rest covered renovating a tiny premises and visiting greenhouses across half of Spain to find suppliers. The strawberries come from Huelva, Segovia, and Valencia. Monthly consumption exceeds one tonne across open locations in Madrid (Embajadores, Chueca, and Chamberí), Valencia, Córdoba, Málaga, and two in Girona (city and Figueres). These are joined by Barcelona and Jaén, inaugurated on a Friday, and those being prepared in Granada, Seville, Santander, Fuengirola, and a new franchise in Madrid's Plaza Mayor.
The technical detail admitted by the business itself: what they sell are not wild strawberries, but cultivated strawberries (fresones). Larger, sweeter, less acidic. Traditional strawberries are more aromatic, seasonal, and fragile. Cultivated strawberries withstand transport and display better. For marketing reasons, they say, they call them strawberries.
Business model: separate sauces and margins per topping
The pricing structure is key. The cup includes a single sauce. Everything added afterwards is billed separately. This scheme turns each order into a variable sum that can double the base ticket. It is the same pattern applied by frozen yogurt shops fifteen years ago and artisanal ice cream chains since. There is no innovation in the product; there is innovation in the packaging and the experience.
Some argue that success responds to a real need for urban consumption and leisure. Against this weighs the argument that it is a product replicable at home for a fraction of the price: a two-kilo box of strawberries at a fruit shop may cost less than the small cup. The sector's defense is that the customer pays for the venue, variety, and not dirtying the kitchen. The criticism is that LlaoLlao or Smöoy already did this with their ice creams, and neither ended up dominating the market.
The bubble already announced with frozen yogurt
The parallel with frozen yogurt shops is the most repeated. Also with vapers, gourmet burgers, and strikingly shaped waffles. All shared a pattern: massive openings, initial queues, media advertising, franchise saturation, and silent closure. The most optimistic calculation assumes that the strawberry bar will find its stable niche in tourist and high-traffic areas. The pessimistic scenario starts from the premise that growth is financed with debt and that, when the trend passes, the venues will not cover the loans.
The question hovering over the sector is not whether the product is liked, but how long the novelty lasts. A business that depends on queues and photos has a structural problem: when the queue disappears, the showcase disappears. And without a showcase, the margin per topping does not save the income statement.
How long can a franchise sustain its growth when its main asset is novelty?
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (110 replies).
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