Why is saffron ridiculously expensive?

Answer 1

Saffron is the stigmas from a crocus flower. There are three stigmas per flower which must be removed by hand. It takes about one thousand flowers to make one ounce of saffron. Thus it takes a lot of flowers and a lot of labor.

Chef Mark

Answer 2

Saffron is the dried stamens from a certain crocus and must be harvested by hand a tedious and and expensive process. That makes it the most expensive spice in the world.

Answer 3

saffron threads are the stamins from a crocus like plant. There are only a few of these per flower. when they are dried they lose weight...so how many flowers does it take to get an ounce of saffron....Thousands...Hence the expense.

Answer 4

There are only 3 stigmas (referred to as saffron threads) per flower. Saffron is hand harvested so you can understand why it is so prized and so expensive. It takes about 13,125 threads to weigh one ounce.
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/saffron.htm

Answer 5

Because it HAS to be hand harvested. Also, it takes 50,000-75,000 flowers to make a pound of saffron, each flower has 3 stigmas.

Answer 6

Saffon is made up of the stamens of a certain type of flower. (The yellow things inside the blossom that you can see in deep flowers like tulips or lillies.) It has to be harvested by hand. There isn't much per flower, either.

Answer 7

maybe the rarity of the product.

there is one called mexican saffron sold in arizona, that is less expenisive but you have to use a lot & doesn't work as well

Answer 8

Stamen of the Crocus flower- how would you like to go picking those for a living?

Answer 9

Because it requires high amounts of manual labor to produce. Each flower only yields a single thread and they have to be pulled out by hand. And dried it takes an awful lot of them to make a measurable amount.