vida e caffe The Zone
vida e caffè is portuguese for “life and coffee” the concept was born out of the heritage of a truly european espresso bar, a reaction to the insipid coffee shop culture that is prevalent in our daily lives. vida e caffè is a simple, focused concept that delivers an authentically european experience in espresso and coffee drinking. vida e caffè as a concept has existed, in one form or another, for centuries. walk down any street in lisboa, porto, rome, paris or barcelona, and you will see the sidewalk cafés that have been our inspiration. a shrine for the wonderful bean and the drinking of it in its purest form; the espresso. the simplicity of the interior, the focused menu, and the nature of the service, have all been designed with european street culture as the foundation. the vida e caffè espresso bars aim to deliver the highest quality coffee and pastries, prepared to european standards. our menu is based on the fare typical of a street café in lisboa, a slice of europe on african streets. vida’s mission is a simple one: we strive to serve the best espresso, or espresso based caffe, as well as offer the best atmosphere and food on the planet.South African brand vida e caffé is synonymous with good coffee, a great atmosphere and smiling baristas who are as energised as the coffee machines they operate. They opened their first store in Kloof Street, Cape Town in 2001 and currently have 72 stores in South Africa, four in Mauritius, one in Angola and two in London, with plans to expand vida e caffé into Ghana and Botswana, as well as into Australia and the US.Vida has a unique approach to staff training, and new recruits are known as ‘shoes’ because they still have to be ‘worn in’. They are seconded to existing stores when they have learnt about every section of the store, which provides them with a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of how the brand works.Vida has a boutique roastery located below its head office in Woodstock‚ Cape Town. When they started the business, they imported their coffee from a roaster in Portugal, but as the business grew, they realised that with economies of scale they could increase their quality by roasting the beans in South Africa.
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