"Direct sourcing" in saffron means the brand works with named family farms in a named growing region, takes delivery of a specific lot in a specific harvest year, and does its own packing. Anonymous middlemen blend lots, blend grades, and lose traceability. Direct sourcing is more work, but it's the only way to put a harvest year on a bottle and mean it.
The lot in every bottle
Our current lot carries Herat government laboratory report 004389: crocin 296.5, picrocrocin 114.2, safranal 32.7, artificial colorants absent. ISO 3632 Category I on every tested parameter. We test each harvest before we buy it, so a lot that fails is a lot we never own.
Read the full reportBuying for a kitchen, a tea house or a shop? The wholesale page has the bulk ladder from 5 g to a kilogram and a calculator that sizes an order and puts it in your cart.
The two supply chains
- Anonymous: Importer buys a blended drum from a trading company → repacks → labels with country only → ships.
- Direct: Brand contracts with named farms → takes delivery of single-lot kilos → COA-tests if needed → packs in-house → labels with origin, year, grade.
Why direct is harder
- Smaller volumes mean higher per-unit cost.
- Customs paperwork is more complex.
- Lots have to be tracked individually.
- Cash flow is heavier (smaller, more frequent orders).
Why direct is better for the customer
- Every bottle is traceable.
- Quality is consistent within a lot.
- The harvest year is real, not marketing.
- The farmer gets a fair price (we publish ours on the About page).
Raihan's chain
Herat family farms → bonded warehouse → air to JFK → bonded customs → Lynn, MA packing → DTC + wholesale.
Buying for a kitchen or a shop? See the bulk and wholesale sizes, 20 g to 1 kg, or start with the 10 g bottle. Every lot ships with lab report 004389.
