Greece's red gold is booming saffron trade economy

Greece's red gold is booming saffron trade economy https://www.eresviral.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/El-oro-rojo-de-Grecia-está-en-auge-de-la-economía-del-comercio-de-azafrán

Greece's red gold is booming saffron trade economy







KROKOS, Greece (Reuters) - Each fall, Zisis Kyrou is found more frequently plucking flowers in the purple saffron fields of northern Greece than in his office as a civil engineer. 











A bee is seen in saffron flowers in a field in the city of Krokos, Greece, October 27, 2018. REUTERS / Alkis Konstantinidis





Saffron, the so expensive spice called "red gold", has brought jobs and money to a region better known for coal mines and unemployment. A year ago, its producers began exporting to the United States. Now they are looking at China. 

The majority are young Greeks who were excluded from the labor market during the nine years of Greece's economic crisis. They returned to the countryside to make a living with the land.  

"It was difficult to find work in their field during the crisis, particularly in civil engineering, because there was no construction," said Kyrou, 34, while harvesting with hands stained with pollen. 

In 2012, he returned to Greece from London with two university degrees. He finally opened an engineering office in his village of Krokos, but most of his income comes from his four acres of land, which he hopes to increase. 

"I did not imagine he would return," he said. "But it was a decision that I do not regret."  

The Greeks have been growing saffron for three centuries in the field surrounding Krokos, which takes its name from Crocus, the flower of saffron. It is said that Alexander the Great used it to heal battle wounds. 

But until 2000, production was limited to 30 kg a year for domestic consumption, said Nikos Patsiouras, who heads the saffron cooperative in Greece. 

That changed in 2008, when the crisis came. Greece now produces around four tons a year, 70 percent of which goes abroad. The Cooperative has doubled its membership from 494 to 1,000. It has also increased its land from 592 acres in 2008 to 1,349 acres. 

"Many young people found work in the fields: scientists," said Patsiouras. "I think more will come together." 

The signs of the crisis are visible through Krokos, where closed shops line the streets. Unemployment in northwest Greece is 23.5 percent, three points higher than the national average. But the fields are upset. 

"We have God on our side, who gave us a unique product," Patsiouras said. "We cling to her like the apple of our eyes." 

Saffron grows only in this region of Greece. Marketed as Krokos Kozanis, a gram costs approximately four euros in Greek stores. 

150,000 flowers are needed to make a kilo of the spice, which is sold for about 1,500 euros. The flowers are chosen by hand, and in the cooperative the women in blue weigh it and pack it. It is forbidden to use makeup and perfume to protect its flavor.  

Iran is by far the largest producer of saffron in the world, but demand for the Greek variety is increasing, Patsiouras said. Greece is in talks with China for exports in 2019. 

In the house of Patsiouras, three generations have gathered after a day of harvest to remove the saffron threads from the flowers and dry them.  

"If we do not transfer this tradition to the next generation, we will fail," said her daughter-in-law, Maria Patsioura.  

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