Young Barcelona entrepreneur shakes up dessert scene with 99-cent cheesecake

One euro doesn't go a long way in Barcelona these days, but one thing it can get you is a slice of cheesecake, plus change.

High-quality cheesecake at the irresistible price of 99 cents. That's the business idea of 22-year-old Roger Bettosini, CEO and founder – along with his partner Laura Garcia (25) – of 99 Cheesecake. 

It's proving a success, expanding in eight months from a single cheesecake shop on Aribau Street in central Barcelona to four locations around Spain.

"I finished my studies ten months ago and I decided to invest in this and to try to make it real," Bettosini tells Catalan News.

Pizza inspiration

The concept was "super inspired" by New York's 99-cent pizza slices.

"I was there. I had no money. And it was like, ok, I've found my place – it's my perfect dinner, so I fell in love with the concept," Bettosini says.

Studying Business Management and Administration at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, he immediately saw the potential for adapting the idea back home, but why cheesecake?

"It's my favourite dessert," he laughs. "It was that simple. It's my favourite food. I thought 'I have to do something, but let's do it with cheesecake.'"

Turning idea into reality

To turn the idea into a reality, Bettosini and Garcia started by testing the concept on social media.

"We began posting videos more than one year ago, and we explained our concept, because it was a new concept in Spain," Bettosini says.

Instagram was particularly successful for them, and they quickly saw there was a market there, although initially they couldn't convince investors. 

"The beginning was the hardest part," Bettosini says.

They secured a small bank loan, and began "working 20 hours per day" for "six or seven months."

The hard work is already paying off. "Now we are in a stage that is more beautiful, the expansion. We have investment, so it's easier to do things."

The expansion has been rapid. 99 cheesecake is now a team of 42 people, with four stores: two in Barcelona (the second one in Gràcia), one in Madrid, and one just about to open in Valencia.

They sell about 1,500 slices of cheesecake daily at each store, and buy a total of six tonnes of cheese per week, set to increase to eight tonnes per week when their Valencia premises opens. Bettosini himself can hardly believe it.

"That's a huge amount. It's like, oh my God, I'm buying more than 300 kilograms of cheese per day for each shop. And I can consume around 100 grams maximum, so it's spectacular," he says proudly.

Social media strategy

The business strategy has been built on TikTok and Instagram from day one, with Bettosini and Garcia's youth proving to be an advantage.

"We know our consumers and what we have to do on social media because we are the social media generation," Bettosini says.

In fact, his one tip for any budding entrepreneurs is to "validate your market" before getting into financial debt or creating the business.

Online followers suggest new flavours for their monthly specials and vote on where to open next.

Viral videos show off their products – the 99-cent basic slice of cheesecake, to which you can add more than 20 toppings, like pistachio, sauces, marmalades and different types of cookies. There are also premium cheesecake options, including white chocolate, Lotus, and four cheeses. 

"People come for the price, but come back for the quality," Bettosini says.

International expansion

The young entrepeneur has ambitious plans for the future. He's already eyeing more cities in Spain, mentioning Bilbao in the Basque Country, as well as Andalusia.

"For 2026, for sure, we will be in Europe, in different countries," he says, likely starting with Portugal.

"Our expansion plan is super aggressive, because we want to be that reference, we want to be that big firm that doesn't exist in Europe," Bettosini says.

"You go to America and you have The Cheesecake Factory. We don't have that in Europe and we want to be that."