Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice, priced at between $5 000 and $10 000 a kilogram.

Iran is the world’s biggest producer, pushing out 85% to 90% of yearly global production, followed by Afghanistan and India in distant second and third spots.

South Africa doesn’t feature anywhere on the list of significant global producers, but, considering the arid landscapes of the countries where the saffron flower thrives, it is conceivable that it can be grown in certain parts of this country.

Cue: Bennie Engelbrecht, a former SuperSport producer who studied agriculture and, in 2013, at the age of 47, decided to swap the broadcast industry for farming.

Engelbrecht didn’t choose just any old crop to kick off his new career, but one that hadn’t yet been produced in South Africa at scale – saffron.

Following extensive research, he imported bulbs from The Netherlands and started the cultivation process in Pretoria. From there, he moved to the Calvinia area, and then finally on to Piketberg, in the Western Cape, in 2023 – an area he ultimately found to be well-suited to saffron production.

Today, Saffricon is an agricultural company that cultivates and commercialises saffron; supplies acclimatised saffron bulbs to other farmers; and also supports local small-scale and commercial saffron farmers.

“It took two years before we could harvest the first saffron,” says Bennie’s son and Saffricon marketing and strategic manager Tiaan Engelbrecht.

That first harvest delivered a steep learning curve, he adds.

Saffron is called red gold for a reason. Each purple flower from a saffron plant produces only three tiny red threads (stigmas).

The flowers must be hand-picked, and the delicate threads pulled out by hand to dry – a process which sees the threads lose roughly 80% of their mass.

The end result – the tiny, delicate, deep-red dried thread – is called saffron.

It takes 75 000 to 150 000 flowers to make 500 g to one kg of dry saffron.

“Another challenge with harvesting saffron is that you must collect the flowers within 24 hours of the petals opening to ensure the best quality product,” explains Tiaan.

“Also, when you finally reach the other side of the field, new flowers may have opened up where you started harvesting this morning, which means that you have to go back and rework the field.”

Harvest time is usually a nonstop process for a three- to five-week period in May and June.

Harvesting saffron is such swift, backbreaking work that Saffricon is currently testing the use of a wearable, powered exoskeleton device to assist workers with the continuous bending down in the sandy soil in which saffron grows in South Africa.

“It is not possible to mechanise the harvesting, as the work is much too delicate. It is, however, possible to assist the workers who harvest the flowers,” says Tiaan.

During growth season, it takes between 25 and 30 people to bring in the Saffricon harvest.

“Saffron is a labour-intensive crop, and we regard this as a good thing in South Africa,” says Tiaan.

Today Saffricon farms saffron on 5.5 ha of land.

Other South African farmers have also turned to saffron, but not on the same scale as Saffricon.

“We’ll only buy saffron from other Saffricon-certified growers,” notes Tiaan. “Counterfeit saffron has become a huge issue in the international market.”

True South African saffron is some of the best quality in the world, he adds.

“The International Organisation for Standardisation says we produce grade 1 saffron.

“We believe large parts of the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape are well suited to growing saffron.”

Saffron needs little water –around 350 mm for the entire season, says Tiaan, with small fields able to deliver high yields. Western Cape saffron is also harvested when the province’s traditional crops are typically still growing, or dormant.

Saffron’s use is also expanding, says Tiaan, which will boost production in the long run.

It is traditionally used to season dishes such as paellas, biryanis, risottos. It is, however, also increasingly being rolled out in the health, wellness and pharmaceutical industries.