FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Our saffron comes from the Khorasan region in the Middle East. This region produces 90% of the saffron used around the world and has been considered to produce the best quality saffron for the past 3000 years due to its climate, water and soil quality. We source our saffron directly from the local farms, so there is no middleman, warehousing or additional costs involved. What you buy from us has been plucked from the flowers in the same season.
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Saffron can be defined as "the spice of health". It is rich in vitamins A, B1, B2 and C. It contains folic acid and minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, iron, magnesium, manganese, copper, zinc and selenium. It is also rich in natural antioxidants and may reduce cancer risk. It stimulates the immune system and digestion. It protects the respiratory tract, heart and arteries. It increases concentration and helps in the case of depression.
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There are several reasons why saffron is expensive, but the main reason is the amount of work it takes to produce even small quantities. . To pluck 1kg of saffron from the saffron flowers, the threads or stigmas of around 170,000 - 250,000 flowers must be hand-picked & dehydrated, an amazingly labor-intensive job.
Furthermore, this process needs to happen before the sunrise in order to insure maximum potency and freshness—a fact which most large-scale producers ignore due to the additional costs that this creates.
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For the past 40+ years, our farming practices have not changed a bit and are the same as those of generations and generations of our ancestors. Because we farm on a small scale, we can afford to farm the traditional way, which means we only use the natural desert soil and rainwater, and we never add growth chemicals to our soil or water. Our saffron is plucked before sunrise when the flowers are at the peak of their potency. In large-scale farms, they cannot afford to stop plucking after the sunrise due to the amount of land they need to cover. So the quality of their saffron drops as the day goes by and the sun rises. We also dry our saffron naturally at room temperature whereas in larger farms they use machines to dehydrate the saffron because of the volume they need to produce.
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The saffron bulbs from which our saffron is harvested are a family heirloom - these are passed down from generation to generation without any external influence. We keep it pure and natural, free from chemicals and pesticides. The small family farms that they come from have been practicing this for centuries. The product of these practices is some of the highest-quality saffron available on the market, well in excess of international standards.
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We're not just another saffron retailer; we are a farm to end user business, dedicated to high-quality natural ingredients.
Our saffron is grown traditionally on small family farms, using centuries-old heritage saffron bulbs—real saffron, GMO-free.
We harvest and dry our saffron the old way. Every single thread is picked by hand, before the sun rises, to ensure maximum potency and freshness.
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When it comes to the essence of saffron, its color, aroma and flavor, there is no difference between pure saffron powder and stigma/ threads.
But for some shady companies, it's easier to add other materials to the powder to increase the weight. Also saffron loses its aroma and color faster in its powdered form, which is why we recommend you always buy your saffron as full threads and turn it into powder just before use.
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