Saffron...

[Bluestone]

Why is Saffron so expensive?

Had to buy some, yesterday, and was flabbergasted at how much it costs.

[vodkancoke]

I think it's because it is collected by hand and it's a delicate job picking the strands from the crocus.

[Bluestone]

But tea is collected by hand, isn't it? That's not expensive?

My brother in-law told me it was "more expensive than gold"....???

[vodkancoke]

I know, I don't really know how they decide why it should be the price it is. I'm sure someone more knowledgable than me will be able to tell you! xx

[albaqwerty]

gramme per gramme it is more expensive than gold.
The tea leaves are bigger and not as delicate.

[Bluestone]

V&C, it's ludicrous, isn't it!

So it is down to the fact it's so delicate then. Crazy!

[boxtops]

Because you have harvest millions of crocuses to get a bag of saffron - it's a scarce commodity.

[atalanta]

In the middle ages, the price of a pound of saffron would buy a horse.
It still will.
There are only 2 or 3 strands in each crocus flower. It is hugely labour-intensive. Cheapest bought in North Africa, but even there, don't think of haggling. It would be weighed out in tiny scales and handled with what look like eye-brow tweezers, such is its value.

[Fitzer]

A lot of North African 'saffron' is actually safflower, similar in colour but with a more 'petaly' shape as opposed to the strands of true saffron. To add to what everyone else has said this might give you an idea of quite why it is so expensive, 'To glean an amount of dry saffron weighing 1 lb (450 g) is to harvest 50,000–75,000 flowers, the equivalent of an association football pitch's area of cultivation; '
PS. I live in Saffron Walden which used to be England's major saffron cultivator but it died out in the Middle Ages.

[Bluestone]

Thank you all very much. Now I know :-)

[pastafreak]

You could grow your own....

http://www.vegetableg...grow-saffron/page/all