Saffron has reputed itself as the most expensive spice in the world. The price for one gram of Iranian saffron is somewhere between 3 to 10 Euros, and sometimes even more. However, the unbelievable benefits of pure saffron for mental health, as well as its advantages for physical well-being, makes the price worth it. But why is saffron price incredibly high and what makes it so rare?
Why is saffron price so expensive?
To answer this question, we need to take a trip to Iran and get involved in the process of pure saffron production. Please read with GoldSpice to the end of this article.
Climate:
Saffron needs a dry and warm climate to grow.
This means only places with warm, mild summers and not too cold winters can grow high-quality saffron.
Land preparation:
In order to prepare the land for pure saffron production, the farmers must plow the land. The best times for plowing are fall, winter or end of spring.
Soil:
Saffron cannot grow properly in the salty or too dry soil. The best kind of soil for planting saffron is the clay-sand mixture with low levels of lime. The rareness of this kind of soil can be one reason for the high saffron price. According to saffron and its derivatives at our blog, you can always buy saffron online and benefit from it.
Only Iran and some parts of Spain have plenty of this kind of soil.
Planting:
The best time to plant the seeds of saffron is from July to September; hence the planting time is too limited. This is while the planting process requires a huge amount of difficult labor:
- First of all, the farmers need to dig holes with 15 to 20 cm of depth;
- Then, they put 3 to 15 seeds of pure saffron in each hole. The head of seeds must face the top;
- Next, the fill the holes with soil;
- and finally, the farmers press the soil so that the seeds can rest.
Four groups of laborers must carry out all these steps. This is another reason why the saffron price is too high! But you can always order saffron online to get incredible discounts.
However, the farmers need to repeat the planting process every 7 to 10 years, only.
Harvesting:
The time for harvesting saffron is too limited. The harvest process must not take more than 15 to 25 days.
While the time for harvest is very limited, this step is the most energy consuming part of the whole saffron production process.
We need to harvest 45000 to 50000 of saffron flowers to produce only 1 kg of pure saffron.
This number of flowers equals a football filed sized saffron farm!
This is not all about saffron price!
As we know, Iran produces 93% of the world’s saffron; this means almost 220 tons a year.
With a few calculations, we can see the hugeness of labor needed or saffron harvest in Iran.
Farmers need to harvest all this amount in only 15 to 25 days, and the laborers must work day and night to not to miss any time.
This might be the main reason why the saffron price is the highest among other spices.
Nevertheless, GoldSpice is where you can buy saffron online with the best prices ever!
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