Platinum, gold, saffron - some of the most valuable materials in the world continue to be in high demand across markets all over the world. Saffron, which is the most valuable spice available in the world market, is ripe for disruption - and this company has set out to make it more accessible than ever.
“We felt that there’s no one in the world that grows saffron in vertical farming machines,” said CEO of Saffron-Tech, David Freidenberg. “That, by itself, is unique.” The company, which was founded last year, has patented a technology that measures the exact parameters to grow Saffron in a controlled environment locally in Israel - instead of relying on importing it from Iran, where 95% of it is grown and exported.
Saffron is valued at roughly $10,000 per kilo, making it one of the expensive materials in the world and earning it the nickname ‘red gold’. There are a few reasons for this: the spice has a myriad of uses, such as flavoring, dyes, or even for medicinal purposes. However, the work required to extract the needed amount from flowers is incredibly labor-intensive, and requires 150,000 flowers, with a total of 450,000 strands, to produce just one kilo. Not to mention, it takes an entire year to grow and so there aren’t many new harvests to export each season.
Currently, farmers need to rely on a lot of space, a lot of time, and a lot of labor for one small kilo. Enter Saffron-Tech. The company is already sitting on a patented technology that can take the bulbs of Saffron and learn how to grow them in controlled vertical farms, tending to them with the exact temperatures, climates, water usage, and sunlight, with the hope to speed up the harvest to produce three cycles a year.
“Once we have control of the parameters, we believe we can grow saffron a few times a year, not just once,” Freidenberg explained. “We can manipulate what the plant thinks is happening. We believe we can make saffron grow three times a year, and we think the quality will be at the high-end level.”
Read the complete article at www.calcalistech.com.