Cooperativa Agrícola Pisquera Elqui Limitada (CAPEL) is one of Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

's biggest spirits

Distilled beverage

A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...

 company and producer of pisco

Pisco

Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored grape brandy produced in winemaking regions of Chile and Peru. Pisco was developed by Spanish settlers in the 16th century as an alternative to orujo, a pomace brandy that was being imported from Spain...

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

Cooperative

A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...

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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
  Alto del Carmen (pisco)
  thumb|200px|right|View of Alto del Carmen pisco bottle box and bottle.Alto del Carmen is a brand of Chilean pisco owned by CAPEL. The brand takes its name from the locality of Alto del Carmen in Huasco Valley at the southern reaches of Atacama Desert where pisco grapes are grown....
  
  
• Artesanos del Cochiguaz
• Valle del Limarí

In addition Capel opened up its scope in 2006 producing numerous types of alcoholic beverage

Alcoholic beverage

An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...

s under the brand Capel drinks, including bottled caipirinha

Caipirinha

Caipirinha is Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça , sugar and lime. Cachaça is Brazil's most common distilled alcoholic beverage . Both rum and cachaça are made from sugarcane-derived products...

  and rum

Rum

Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...

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