Saffron - The
costliest spice on earth is always
in hot demand
in hot demand
NEW DELHI: It's almost
as costly as gold and as lucrative a commodity to smuggle. The rich and the
blueblooded around the world have loved it for millennia. The richest country
in the world, the United States, loves it so much that even (clandestine)
imports from Iran are okay. India's elite loves it, too, and it provides the
most pleasing link between politically troubled Kashmir and the rest of the
country.
It's, therefore, a
super-premium product that trumps geopolitics. So, what is it ? More
clues. Cleopatra bathed with it, Alexander the Great used it to heal battle
wounds, it adds that special touch to Indian biryani and Italian risotto, to
super premium cakes and lavishly cooked kheer, and it enhances the quality of
your skin as well as that of your sex life - if you can afford the Rs 2 lakh/kg
price tag.
It's saffron, the
world's most expensive spice. Its economics is made for super premium pricing
and, when it intersects with global politics, it also produces a fascinating
underground trade.
Iran produces 95 per
cent of the world's saffron. India, along with Spain, Italy, Greece, Morocco
and Ajerbaijan, produce the rest. Kashmir is India's only saffron producing
centre and thanks to floods this year, is facing a possible 75 per cent
shortfall in production of the spice. It takes 1 lakh flowers to produce 1 kg
of saffron, and output is typically just half a kg per hectare.
That kind of
production norm, plus the fact of Iran being the biggest saffron producer,
means two things. First, there's always excess demand for saffron and prices
always remain high. Second, given sanctions on Iran and high demand from the
US, non-regular trade in saffron thrives. Saffron smugglers are called pigeons
in the trade and the fact that metal detectors are of no use against this
pricey spice is an incentive for non-regular saffron supply chains.
Those who know saffron
traders in countries like Dubai and then shipped to other parts of the world,
including Canada. Canada to the US, with country of origin masked, is an easy
supply route for saffron. Washington-Teheran tensions, a regular fixture in
international relations, haven't stopped American consumers from getting their
hand on Iran's premium quality saffron.
India, say saffron
trade insiders, is no stranger to the spice from Iran coming through
non-regular trade routes. India imposes a high duty on saffron imports. Iranian
saffron prices can be almost 50 per cent less than Indian prices - the
incentive for avoiding official channels is therefore high. Unsurprisingly,
there's saffron ego - as in my saffron is better than your saffron claims. The
world considers Iranian saffron to be premium quality. Saffron needs unpolluted
environs to grow best and Iran offers plenty of these.
Kashmir's agricultural officials and saffron growers say the valley's saffron is premium quality as well. But the saffron industry is divided about product quality of Kashmiri saffron. Some experts say Kashmir's increasing urbanisation is not good for maintaining saffron quality. But Srinagar's officials hotly deny this.
Kashmir's agricultural officials and saffron growers say the valley's saffron is premium quality as well. But the saffron industry is divided about product quality of Kashmiri saffron. Some experts say Kashmir's increasing urbanisation is not good for maintaining saffron quality. But Srinagar's officials hotly deny this.
"Saffron grown in
Kashmir commands premium in the market," says director of Jammu & Kashmir
agriculture department Mushtaq Ahmad Shah. There may be debate on quality but
on quantity everyone agrees - floods have wrecked Kashmiri production of
saffron, prices have jumped by Rs 10,000 per kg in the last two days and
traders expect prices to go up more and cross Rs 2 lakh/kg.
Even in normal years,
Indian demand outstrips domestic production of 15,000 kg. This year, therefore,
businesses that use saffron are worried. Snack and ice-cream makers such as
Haldiram, Vadilal and Bikaji are big buyers of saffron. "We have not
started procurement of saffron yet but there are reports about poor harvest
this year," said Vadilal group MD Rajesh Gandhi. Bulk buyers like Gandhi
will have a problem.
"This year, there
is no volume to offer to large traders and institutional buyers. There are
40,000 outfits selling saffron and majority of them are defunct as farmers have
not been able to produce much," said GM Pampori, who heads the All J&K
Saffron Growers & Dealers Association. Saffron is sold in packages of a
tola or 10 grams in retail markets while large traders procure in bulk through
agents in Jammu & Kashmir.
So, what of India's
elite users of saffron, those who like the spice as an ingredient in fine food
and fine living? Or what about big temples and gurudwaras, which are big
customers of saffron?
Traders say top-end
users of saffron are rarely deprived of their favourite spice. Last year, the
super-wealthy Guruvayur temple inked an agreement with J&K Agro Industries
Development Corp to procure 10 kg of saffron every month. Saffron is a key
ingredient of the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh faiths. Saffron and sandal
pastes are often used to anoint idols and statues. It is also used in many
rituals.
Recently, people
thronged to the Chhoti Dadabari Jain temple in New Delhi's South Extension to
observe a 'miracle' of saffron water flowing from a marble carving of a Jain
saint's feet, known as 'charan pratishtha'. For other elite lovers of saffron,
there will be other ways to get their hands on the world's most expensive
spice. Price is no object for these customers, and there's always Iranian
saffron.
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