The spice is known for its distinctive, bold color and hard-to-describe flavor. Here's why saffron is so darn expensive.
Why Is Saffron So Expensive?
Updated on Jun. 09, 2025
Saffron has been one of the world’s most prized spices for thousands of years, used by ancient empires to dye clothing, scent perfume and flavor food. Alexander the Great added it to his baths to help heal battle wounds, and Cleopatra supposedly took daily saffron-infused milk baths to enhance her legendary beauty. While it’s unlikely any of us wants to test this piece of food fact trivia—it’d cost hundreds of dollars to draw a single saffron bath—it does raise the question: Why is saffron so expensive?
Even if saffron baths aren’t on the agenda these days, the earthy, fragrant spice is used in everything from chicken and curry to risotto and paella. Reader’s Digest gets to the bottom of why this prized spice is more valuable than caviar, truffles, premium vanilla beans, real Japanese wasabi and any other luxury food you can think of. Keep reading to find out why saffron is so expensive—and why it’s worth every penny.
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What is saffron?
Saffron threads are the stigmas—parts of the female reproductive system—found in the center of the Crocus sativus, a purple flower in the Iris family that’s better known as the saffron crocus. There are only three of the orange-yellow stigmas in each flower, which means it takes a lot of flowers to make a little bit of saffron. Each pound of saffron contains between 15,000 and 20,000 stigmas, so if you were to grow your own saffron, you would need 75,000 of these flowers to get a single pound!
Where does saffron come from?
Historians believe that saffron crocus flowers are native to Asia Minor and the lands around the Mediterranean Sea, and that they were first domesticated as a crop in either what is now modern-day Iran or on the southwestern islands of Greece.
Once it became used as a spice, saffron spread across the globe by traders, explorers and expanding empires. There have been periods in history when saffron, by weight, was more expensive than gold.
Today, the majority of saffron is grown in Iran, Spain, Greece and India, the birthplace of chai tea. Of the 300 tons of saffron harvested each year, about 90 percent is grown in Iran, but the world’s finest—and most expensive—saffron comes from the Indian state of Kashmir. It can sell for over $1,500 a pound. (Yes, for real.)
Why is saffron so expensive?
It turns out that there are good reasons saffron is so expensive. Here are some factors that account for its high price.
Time and labor to harvest
Saffron flowers are very delicate, and the only way to properly remove their stigmas is to pluck them by hand. The work is so delicate, in fact, that if the saffron threads aren’t picked shortly after the flowers have bloomed, they’ll wilt and become unusable.
The University of Vermont estimates that it takes a single worker 23 minutes to harvest the stigmas from 100 saffron flowers. It takes about 370 to 470 hours of labor to harvest one pound of saffron.
Complicated growing conditions
On top of being delicate and difficult to harvest, saffron flowers aren’t the easiest to grow, either. They can’t be exposed to too much sunlight, can’t be overwatered and don’t fare well in cold weather. Even a single day of frigid temperatures can be enough to destroy an entire crop.
Saffron flowers are planted in the summer, and are ready to harvest in mid to late autumn. Not only is the growing season short, the block of time they can actually be harvested is limited, too. When it’s time to harvest, the saffron threads must be plucked shortly after sunrise to prevent them from being damaged by the heat of the midday sun.
Climate sensitivities
Why is saffron so expensive? Another major issue that affects the price, and one that’s only going to get worse, is climate change.
High temperatures, droughts and extended periods of extreme heat have made saffron farming a risky business. Between 2017 and 2018 alone, the production of saffron in Kashmir decreased by nearly 70 percent as farmers sold off large amounts of their land due to erratic returns. But it’s rebounded slightly in the years since, thanks to the Indian government’s National Saffron Mission, which was founded to help save the struggling saffron industry.
As expensive as saffron already is, the price of saffron will likely become even costlier in the future, thanks to climate change.
FAQ
How many strands are there in one gram of saffron?
One gram of saffron contains about 463 strands of stigmas approximately 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch in length.
Is it profitable to cultivate saffron?
Yes. Although saffron farming is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process, it can be profitable to grow saffron because it’s a perennial crop. The University of Vermont estimates that depending on the price per gram, an acre of saffron could gross about $100,000.
When cultivated sustainably, saffron bulbs multiply over a span of four to five years, leading to an increase in the annual harvest. After this period, the corms (bulbs) can be dug up and replanted in another area to continue the cycle.
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Sources:
- National Geographic: “The Secret History of the World’s Priciest Spice”
- Serious Eats: “Spice Hunting: What’s the Deal with Saffron?”
- Pharmacognosy Review: “An overview on saffron, phytochemicals, and medicinal properties”
- CSIR Indian Institute of Integrated Medicine: “Saffron Production”
- University of Vermont: “Saffron by the Numbers”
- Sativus: “Frequently Asked Questions”
- Spices, Inc.: “Saffron”
