For many of us it’s the only thing that separates the morning monster from the co-worker that other people can get along with.

It is of course the humble cup of coffee, paving the way for successful working relationships and awkward morning after conversations. As the caffeine craving has grown so has one of this country’s most successful startups, Vida e Caffé and Shell announcing the opening of their 100th store in South Africa, in Dorp Street, Stellenbosch.

We’ve had our fair share of coffees in and from their stores over the years – I think it’s both a congrats and a thanks from us at 2OV then.

The Vida-Shell relationship started off in 2013, and after just over two years the partnership has hit a significant marker. Vida introduced a new brand within its stable, known as Torrador, specifically to work together with Vida stores in selected large Shell forecourt environments.

“With over 100 Vida e Caffé, and Torrador by Vida e Caffé, coffee bars at Shell service stations across the country, we have seen a very positive consumer response with robust growth in coffee, food, convenience retail as well as our fuel sales.

“Motorists are now becoming accustomed to getting their coffee fix at Shell whether in the Cape, Gauteng, KZN or at a Shell Ultra City somewhere in between. It’s been a great partnership so far, we’ve covered a lot of ground,” explains Shell spokesperson Yassier Abrahams.

Vida e Caffé has had a big year in 2015. Alongside the 100 Shell stores, they continued their development of new stores that opened in corporate and mall environments, and opened 15 stores in Africa to date.

Here’s Vida e Caffé CEO Darren Levy with more: “We spent the last 12 months focusing equally on coffee, food and beverage product innovation. October was our new food launch and this has contributed significantly to some fantastic growth in the past few months.

“As an organisation we have placed a high level of importance to the sourcing and roasting of quality raw materials that make up our coffee blend. To this end, we have been actively engaging importers, roasting experts and industry experts as we continue to update the taste profile in line with international and local trends”.

You keep on giving us the good stuff and we’ll keep on coming back for more. Well played guys, many a bleary eyed morning has been saved thanks to your hard work.