Cooperativa Agrícola Pisquera Elqui Limitada (CAPEL), also called Pisco Capel, is one of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

's biggest

spirits Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

company and producer of

pisco Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored brandy produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. Made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit, it was developed by 16th-century Spanish settlers as an alternative t ...

. Most of its croplands are in the Elqui Valley where the company was founded as a producers

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

. It is one of the largest producers of Pisco in Chile (the other is the Sociedad Cooperativa Control Pisquero de Elqui y Vitivinículo de Norte Ltda (also called “Pisco Control”)). Together Pisco Capel and Pisco control produce 90% of Chilean piscos. Consultancy firm AC Nielsen reports that Capel's market participation in the pisco market – including pisco sour, cocktails and pisco coladas - over the period of February and March was 54.5 percent. Salina explained that the company's growth factors have been the cocktails, representing nearly 35 percent of its sales, and “it can keep growing because it is a product line which permits many innovations.” At the end of 2008, Capel's profits were US$8.8 million, 78 percent greater than in 2007. About 68 percent of this figure corresponds to Capel's sales, while the rest are attributed to the Francisco de Aguirre vineyard's sales.

History

Capel was founded after Chile was devastated by the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. It began in 1938 as a way for farmers to join forces in the face of rapidly plunging exports. Initially the cooperative was just 15 individual grape growers from the Elqui Valley. Today it has expanded to over 1,200 members and associates in numerous grape-growing regions throughout Chile. It is considered one of the few successful cooperatives in Chile today.

Products

The company does not only produces pisco under the ''Capel'' brand but has also other brands in the Chile market like: *

Alto del Carmen Alto del Carmen is a Chilean Communes of Chile, commune and village in Huasco Province, Atacama Region. The commune spans an area of . Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute (Chile), National Statistics In ...

* Artesanos del Cochiguaz * Valle del Limarí In addition Capel opened up its scope in 2006 producing numerous types of

alcoholic beverage An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...

s under the brand ''Capel drinks'', including bottled

caipirinha Caipirinha () is Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça (sugarcane hard liquor), sugar, and lime. The drink is prepared by mixing the fruit and the sugar together, then adding the liquor. This can be made in a single large glass to be sha ...

and

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Phili ...

References

External links

Official website
Food and drink companies of Chile Pisco {{Chile-company-stub