Vanilla, Saffron Imports

Can you test saffron in the USA?

2007-09-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

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???????

2007-05-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

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

2007-01-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

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.