Greece is about to export its first shipment of red saffron to China over the coming days.
Vasilis Mitsopoulos, President of the Kozani Saffron Producers Cooperative, said on Monday that the first delivery will be a pilot shipment of one kilogram of the highly valued saffron. The shipment will be prepared in one-gram packages.
“It would not be desirable to risk large quantities in the first shipment,” he said, bearing in mind the expense of the spice.
Producers in Kozani say the exports to China is a “dream come true”. The cooperative aims “to gain a market share” in Asia.
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Mr Mitsopoulos called on saffron producers to pay attention to the production of the spice and its quality as it will be subject to continuous inspections by Chinese food authorities.