Cooperativa Agrícola Pisquera Elqui Limitada

A promotional picture of a of a CAPEL bottle

A typical bottle of CAPEL Pisco

Cooperativa Agrícola Pisquera Elqui Limitada (CAPEL) is one of Chile's biggest spirits company and producer of pisco. Most of its croplands are in the Elqui Valley where the company was founded as a producers cooperative.

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.

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
• Artesanos del Cochiguaz
• Valle del Limarí

In addition Capel opened up its scope in 2006 producing numerous types of alcoholic beverages under the brand Capel drinks, including bottled caipirinha and rum.