In Latin America, the caper is not a gourmet-menu garnish: it is an ingredient of national identity. And apart from Chile, no country on the continent produces it in volume — everything arrives by ship. If you import or distribute food in Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil or the Southern Cone, this guide shares what we have learned serving that market from Fès, Morocco: what drives demand, when to order, and why dry salt is the format that wins the Atlantic.
Demand has a dish's name
- Venezuela — hallacas: the national Christmas tamal includes capers by definition. From September to December the whole country buys them. It is the most concentrated demand peak on the continent;
- Argentina — vitel toné: the Argentine Christmas table demands its tuna-and-caper sauce. Same calendar: November-December;
- Colombia — ajiaco: the ajiaco santafereño is always served with cream and capers. Steady, year-round, very food-service;
- Brazil — food-service: with no local production, everything is imported — tartar sauce, carpaccio, pizzerias. Continuous wholesale volume;
- Chile — the special case: Chile grows its own capers (Aconcagua valley). There you compete on price, volume and calibre consistency, not exoticism.
The importer's calendar
The Moroccan harvest is picked in summer; the new crop ships from late summer. A container from Morocco to a Latin American port sails weeks, not days — and December does not wait. The maths is simple: whoever sells for hallacas or vitel toné must close their order in July-August. Every year, October orders arrive late. Write to us in the low season: that is when the best calibres are still available.
Dry salt: the format that wins the Atlantic
On a long, hot crossing, dry-salted capers hold three advantages over brine: less dead weight (you do not pay freight for liquid), total stability with no cold chain, and a shelf life that forgives customs delays. The distributor rehydrates or repacks at destination. Our guide salt, vinegar or brine compares the three methods; for sizes, see calibres from Nonpareil to Grusas — small calibres for premium jars, large ones for hallacas and industrial kitchens.
Not only capers
The same container can mix lines: caperberries for tapas and cocktails, piparras, preserved lemons. One traceability, one negotiation, one freight.
How to specify — and where to meet us
Five lines: calibre, preservation (dry salt, brine, vinegar), format (drum, pail, private-label jar), estimated annual volume, destination port. We answer with figures. And if you cross the pond this year: we will be at SIAL Paris 2026, 17-21 October.
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Importing capers in Latin America? From Fès, Morocco, CAPERSMED exports across the continent — quality, reliability, availability. Request a quotation or write on WhatsApp: calibre, format, port — we answer with figures.