From Kashmir to Shipment
One harvest a year, a few weeks long, and almost everything that decides quality happens in the first two days. Here is the path a lot takes before it becomes your carton.
What happens, in order
Harvest
Flowers are picked at first light during the short autumn bloom in the Kashmir Valley.
Separation
Stigmas are separated by hand, flower by flower, on the day of picking.
Drying & grading
Controlled drying, then sorting into Mongra, Lachha and Guchhi/Zarda.
Testing
A sample from each lot goes to the laboratory before the lot is accepted.
Packing & despatch
Packed to your format, documented, and handed to the freight forwarder.
How we buy
We buy lot by lot rather than taking whatever is offered at the end of a season. A lot is sampled and assessed before it is accepted, and lots that do not meet the specification we are quoting against are not bought.
Because the harvest is annual, availability and crop year matter. Buyers with predictable requirements usually tell us ahead of the harvest so their volume can be planned against it; short-notice requirements are filled from what is in store, and we say which is which.
What we will not publish
Grower and supplier names, the villages we buy from, our purchase prices, and the size of our network. Not because they are shameful, but because a supplier who discusses one buyer's chain in public will discuss yours. The same discretion protects your requirement.
Where it grows
Planning around the harvest?
Tell us your annual requirement and we will tell you honestly what can be planned and what cannot.