From Kashmir to Carton: What Happens to Saffron Before It Ships
The five stages between an autumn flower and a documented export carton, and where quality is won or lost.
Saffron has one harvest a year, a few weeks long, and almost everything that determines quality happens within two days of the flower being picked.
Picking
Flowers are picked at first light, while they are still closed. Later in the day the flower opens and the stigma begins to lose aroma.
Separation
The three stigmas are pulled from each flower by hand. It cannot be mechanised without damage, which is the real reason saffron costs what it does.
Drying
Controlled drying fixes colour and aroma and brings moisture to a level that will hold for the shelf life. Over-dried saffron loses aroma; under-dried saffron is both a spoilage risk and a weight you did not order.
Grading
Sorting into Mongra, Lachha and Guchhi/Zarda. Grading is where an honest supply chain separates from a careless one.
Testing and packing
A sample goes to the laboratory before the lot is accepted. Accepted lots are packed into moisture-protected inner packs inside export cartons, with the report and documents attached.
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