Jacks: Picaritas Caldosas

From childhood snack to Costa Rican cultural icon.

Picaritas is one of Costa Rica's most iconic snacks, but decades of shifting consumption habits and a ban on sales in schools had eroded its market presence.

In 2016 we discovered something unexpected: in the town of Palmares, Picaritas was the star ingredient in "Caldosas" — a traditional street-food recipe already turned into a local phenomenon. We decided to turn that regional ritual into a nationwide cultural platform.

Strategy

Media

The Challenge

The answer was hiding in the last place we'd looked.

Reconnect a brand with heritage but declining sales to a new generation of consumers — without betraying its essence. The answer wasn't a new flavor or a new package. It was something that already existed: a recipe, a tradition and the pride of a community.

The Outcome

From local phenomenon to national pride.

We started with a pilot in Palmares and Naranjo, and in 2019 took Caldosas nationwide. Picaritas returned to the heart of Costa Rican daily life — while lifting entrepreneurs and small businesses in every corner of the country along with it.