Saffron trade

"[5]Saffron crocus cultivation has long centered on a broad belt of Eurasia bounded by the Mediterranean Sea in the southwest to Kashmir and China in the northeast.

Despite sanctions against Iran, and a loss of direct sales to the US, exports rebounded at the end of 2019, as markets for the valued product were expanded.

Due to the economic sanctions, some production sites have also resorted to smuggling saffron out of the country in order to obtain higher profits from direct sales.

[17] Despite numerous cultivation efforts in such countries as Austria, England, Germany, and Switzerland, only select locales continue the harvest in northern and central Europe.

[7] Microscale cultivation occurs in Tasmania,[18] China, Egypt, France, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Turkey (especially Safranbolu), California, and Central Africa.

[21] A protective geographical status, via the European Union, exists for growing, in the regions of, La Mancha, Spain, L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy, and around abouts Kozani, Western Macedonia, Greece.

[23][24] The high cost of saffron is due to the difficulty of manually extracting large numbers of minute stigmas, which are the only part of the crocus with the desired aroma and flavour.

Obtaining 1 lb (0.45 kg) of dry saffron requires the harvesting of some 50,000 flowers, the equivalent of an association football pitch's area of cultivation, or roughly 7,140 m2 (0.714 ha).

Since so many crocus flowers are needed to yield even derisory quantities of dry saffron, the harvest can be a frenetic affair entailing about forty hours of intense labour.

The traditional method of drying involves spreading the fresh stigmas over screens of fine mesh, which are then baked over hot coals or wood or in oven-heated rooms where temperatures reach 30–35 °C (86–95 °F) for 10–12 hours.

[22] Bulk quantities of lower-grade saffron can reach upwards of US$500 per pound; retail costs for small amounts may exceed ten times that rate.

They reject threads displaying the telltale dull brick-red colouring—indicative of old stock—and broken-off debris collected at the container's bottom, indicative of age-related brittle dryness.

[31] For the entire of 2013, the Guruvayur temple of India, known as particularly affluent, had an agreement with Jammu & Kashmir Agro Industries Development Corporation for the routine purchasing of an amount equal to 10 kg a month.

Constraints in supply due to sanctions against Iran, and high production costs will likely lead to increased prices as global demand for saffron will almost double in the next decade.