75% of saffron produced in Iran is exported to 5 continents

“75% of saffron produced in Iran is exported to 5 continents” was Farhad Saharkhiz’s description of the industry’s reach at the time. The percentage is best read as an attributed market estimate, not a fixed ratio that applies to every harvest year.

What the 75 percent figure meant

Saharkhiz, a board member of the Iranian Saffron Export Development Fund, divided national production into two broad parts: 75 percent exported and 25 percent supplied to Iran’s domestic market. He did not give the crop year, production tonnage, customs export weight or method used to calculate those shares.

Without those inputs, the ratio cannot be independently reconstructed from the original report. It may have been an industry estimate that included the normal pattern across several years rather than a final customs total for one season.

The figure was not unique to that speech. In 2023, Razavi Khorasan’s provincial horticulture director also told the Iranian Agriculture News Agency that, on average, about 75 percent was exported and 25 percent traded domestically. He described exports to 56 countries, showing that the underlying idea remained relevant, while still presenting 75 percent as an average.

“Five continents” described reach, not five equal markets

Saharkhiz said quality Iranian saffron was being exported to countries on five continents. The phrase conveys wide distribution, but the report does not name a customer or shipment on each continent and does not divide export volume by region.

It should therefore not be read to mean that sales were evenly spread around the world. A few large importing hubs can account for much more volume than dozens of small destinations, and some saffron may be packaged or re-exported after its first customs destination.

Japan was singled out as an important audience for Iranian products. Saharkhiz portrayed Japanese buyers as highly attentive to health and product quality. The old English wording goes further and suggests Japan imports nothing without such assurance, but no rule or dataset was supplied for that absolute statement. The useful point is narrower: demanding markets make documented quality and safety essential.

The Iran–Spain competition claim was personal commentary

Saharkhiz recalled intense competition between Iran and Spain in the saffron industry. The English text says this began “since the 80s,” without making clear whether it means the 1980s or the Iranian 1380s, roughly 2001–2011.

He said Spanish participants had claimed to be first and best in the field, and alleged that unfair actions had been taken against Iran. The report does not identify an organisation, action, date or supporting evidence. The allegation remains his account and should not be repeated as an established fact.

His broader argument was that Iranian saffron had proved its quality internationally. Origin alone, however, cannot establish that every batch is superior. Quality is demonstrated lot by lot through identity, purity, handling and test results.

Standards were central to the export argument

Saharkhiz called saffron a sensitive product that needed close supervision. He asked officials to pay greater attention to mandatory product standards so producers of sound products and public health would be protected. He also referred to duplicate or multiple regulatory encounters, although the translated report does not explain which inspections or authorities overlapped.

For international trade, a named specification is more useful than the general word “standard.” The current BS ISO 3632-1:2025 specification applies to dried saffron as filaments, cut filaments and powder. A buyer can use it as a shared technical reference, alongside the destination’s food-safety, residue, contaminant, packaging and labelling requirements.

A certificate or test report should identify the batch, sample, laboratory, method and result. It should not be assumed that participation in an exhibition, membership of an association or Iranian origin proves compliance.

Joint exhibitions were intended to strengthen presentation

Saharkhiz said members of an Iranian crop association had, for the first time, attended domestic and foreign exhibitions together and presented their best products as a group. The English translation does not preserve the association’s exact formal name.

Collective participation can make it easier to present a consistent national story and meet buyers, but an exhibition appearance is only an introduction. Commercial results depend on samples, specifications, reliable supply, pricing, documents and follow-through after the event.

He linked saffron with non-oil exports

The speech argued that Iran should look beyond crude oil by developing non-oil exports, producing organic goods and supervising saffron from farm to market. “Organic” has a specific certification meaning in many destinations; it should not be used as a synonym for natural, traditional or high quality.

Farm-to-supply oversight is the more broadly applicable idea. Records for corm and field management, approved inputs, harvest hygiene, drying, storage, testing, packaging and custody help an exporter answer a buyer’s questions and trace a problem back to its source.

Currency, banking, insurance and tax were practical constraints

Saharkhiz asked the Khorasan Razavi House of Industry, Mining and Commerce, the government and the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade to support active industrial units. He thanked the provincial organisation for its existing role while arguing that producers needed broader official backing.

Exchange-rate fluctuation and instability were identified as major concerns because they complicated export pricing and slowed saffron trade. He also named banking, insurance and tax issues. The report does not quantify their cost or prescribe a policy, but it records the operational problems exporters were raising at the time.

How to use the 75 percent claim today

The headline captures the export-oriented nature of Iranian saffron and the industry’s ambition to serve buyers across five continents. Its two numbers, 75 percent exported and 25 percent domestic, have also appeared in later official-sector commentary as long-run averages.

They are not a substitute for a dated production and customs series. For any current market assessment, the export weight and value should be matched to the same crop period as the production estimate, with informal or re-export trade identified separately where possible.

The durable message is not that one percentage will always hold. It is that export growth depends on consistent, verifiable saffron, careful farm-to-market control and workable financial and regulatory conditions. Those were Saharkhiz’s central concerns, and they remain more useful than treating a historical ratio as a permanent fact.