Saffron Crop in Iran Dec. 2008

http://www.saffron.com/
The saffron crop in Iran is going to be around 80tm or lower once figures are in from the Ministry of Agriculture. The saffron fields in Khorasan got little water due to an unusual dry summer and bitter cold winter in Iran; the saffron flowers did not bloom as expected and therefore the saffron crop will be well below the 200/225 tm expected in a good year. The prices will rise substantially and do not be surprised to see the kilo of pure saffron hover around $7000.00 and up until the next crop comes out at the end of December 2009. (On line there are some outfits selling for $200 per oz., if its NOT Iranian do NOT buy it and if it is, make sure you get a laboratory report from that particular shipment in 2009, not from 1993. If the lab report is from Spain, again good luck.) Iran is the biggest producer in terms of quality and quantity so unless it says PRODUCT OF IRAN on the tin can or the blister do NOT buy it. If you buy “Spanish saffron” or from sources other than Iran is going to be; tinted, cut and mix. Spain for example only produces 1 tm at the most and they usually export 20/25 tm to the USA alone, there is only one way to do that kind of miracle its called cut, tin and mix. Since US Customs does not ask for “Laboratory Report” or test the “saffron” for purity or quality, the cheating is rampant. (Please read “How to read a saffron lab report” at http://www.saffron.com/ and while you are at it, read “The Consumer Guide to Saffron Purchasing” to refresh your memory; it will only take you 15 minutes and you will become an expert.)
The ISO-3632 is very clear: the “Coloring Strength” MUST be clearly marked on the blister or tin can; if not, it is NOT saffron; that is why we always put a “range in our saffron from 230 minimum to 250 units of color. Let me know if you have any other technical questions in regard to saffron or vanilla beans. If you are a industrial user and need to have your “lab report read”, I will do it for free. I will also evaluate your saffron sample at no cost or will charge you for the “mail cost”; we need about 5 grams for evaluation. (If it comes from a source other than Iran don’t bother and if it comes from Iran ,and if it does not have and ISIRI and ISO 3632 certification is just as bad).

Sincerely, Juan J. San Mames. President. Vanilla, Saffron Imports.
I will be at the NASFT in San Francisco. 1-15/18 Booth #1451

Can you test saffron in the USA?

Dear Anonymous:
It is very hard, very expensive and I do not think it would be very accurate. You have to check the equipment everytime you do it; you have to be a good technician to be accurate and you have to be doing it like everyday.
The Iranians are the best at it because of the huge volume of saffron they produce. Do you have an specific sample that you need to have tested? Let me know if you are making a comparison or a study or what is the purpose of your testing, may be I can have it done for free.

ATO. All Things Organic. Chicago May 6-8,07

Vanilla, Saffron Imports Booth #654
Thank you everyone for visiting our booth. We were very impressed, but not suprised at the number of inquiries into organic vanilla extract. One of the biggest problem in making organic vanilla extract is not so much the organic vanilla beans, but the lack of organic certified alcohol which composes 35% of the equation in a gallon: in other words, you need around 1270 ml or 44 ounces per gallon. The price can range from $17 to $50 per gallon, depending whom you buy from, so it is very hard to do organic vanilla extract. Anyhow I am working on it and probably in the next 2 months we will have organic certified vanilla extract. We have extract made with organic certified vanilla beans in the mean time. There where a lot of supermarket buyers and buyers in general genuinely interested in organic, not as a trend but as way of better, real nutrition. I talked to Jared Mizrahi of Bule Mountain Organics and Jim Fullmer of STELLAR CERTIFICATION SERVICES, INC., Demeter Association Inc. Biodinamics is the way to go and we at VSI are working toward that goal.
Sincerely,
Juan

Draught in Spain???????

It is really incredible how the misinformation on saffron is so rampant in the USA: yesterday I got a call from a pasta manufacturer that was told by the “exporter” that the price has quadrupled because the saffron harvest had failed in Spain. Wake up everyone! There was no draught in Spain, the draught was in Iran and that is why the price of Spanish saffron quadrupled, because they get all their saffron from IRAN. Again Spain produces ONLY 400 kg of saffron and they export 12,000 to 20,000 to the USA ALONE. Where do you think they get it if they do not grow it? Remember, in Europe, when a commodity comes into the European Union “bulk”, once they repack it becomes “a product of the country that packs it”, which does not mean it was grown there. Entiende?

New Saffron crop from Iran is here 2006-2007

Vanilla Saffron Imports is the first company to receive the new saffron crop from Iran. For those of you who wonder why the Spanish crop has not arrived yet in the USA, it is because it has not left from Iran to Spain and on to the USA. This year’s crop (2006-2007) will be about 50% lower because of the drought in Iran and prices have already increased 100% from the 2005-2006 crop.

Consequently Spanish packers will have to raise their prices and of course lower their quality by leaving more yellow which has no culinary value at all, but increases the weight. Also there will be a lot of “mixing” old crops, with new and complete disregard for ISO and HACCPS standards in order to keep profits up: quality is never a priority.

If they did care about quality, they would print the coloring strength on the package. When they do, is never above 190 UC, which means the saffron has been manipulated. Or worse, the UC of color that they claim is not the actual coloring strength. I checked one label with a claim of 240 units of color; I had the saffron tested and came around 193 UC; others came in even lower. Lower prices mean lower quality; you get what you pay for...

Saffron packers should also show the real origin of their saffron in their packaging. Year after year Spanish packers have gotten away under the umbrella of the EU, shipping lower-grade Iranian, “mixed/manipulated” as Spanish, just as they did during the 10+ years of embargo against Iran. Then, all the saffron coming into the USA was Iranian in a Spanish tin can, in blatant violation of US importing laws and they got away with it. Packers should at least write "Product of Iran, packed in Spain" and stop shafting the consumer.

Spanish saffron production has been around 400 kg.; yet, they ship minimum 12,000 to 20,000 kg to the USA alone. If this was real Spanish saffron, it would cost $1800.00 per kg in the field or $59.00 per ounce. So, how you can buy an ounce of Spanish saffron for $19.95 at an Indian store in New York is a mystery to me. An even bigger mystery is how can Spanish packers ship 80 ounces to distributors, from Spain to the USA at $14.95 per ounce, including shipping cost, is still a bigger mystery. No, it is not Spanish, it was never Spanish: it is always been Iranian.

Of course you can keep believing the myth that Spanish saffron is superior, but the fact is that Spanish saffron is no better than Iranian in color, aroma or flavor. Saffron is made in to excellent or poor by whether you cut off the yellow part of the threads, or you leave it attached. Iran, by virtue of their production volume (120,000/150,000kg yearly harvest) has the best saffron and the highest quality controls in the world. All saffron shipments out of Iran must be accompanied by a lab report from that particular shipment. The Spanish government cannot certify it or issue you a certificate of origin because the product is NOT Spanish.
Now that the harvest came in lower in Iran 06/07 the quality will be even lower in the “Spanish saffron shipments” and the price will go up. So, buyer, beware.