Saffron Store

Our Story

Based in cosmopolitan Melbourne, the food capital of Australia, Saffron Store is a family owned business that’s passionate about international food and dedicated to bringing you historically coveted saffron spice without emptying your wallet.

Saffron Store is a labour of love for founder and Managing Director, Shari Ghobadi. After meeting his Australian wife-to-be during a European travelling holiday, Shari followed her half way round the world, migrating from Iran to Australia in 1985 where he embarked on a career in the catering industry and café management.

As a food industry professional, Shari was struck by the lack of high quality but affordable saffron - his favourite spice - available in his adopted country. Saffron is a spice used throughout the world in so many different cuisines and in signature international dishes: the Paella in Spain; Saffron Mussels in France; Saffron Rice in India; Risotto Milanese in Italy...and yet here in Australia where all these nations are represented together, high quality saffron has been relatively inaccessible and expensive.

On a trip back to his native Iran in 2011, after enjoying a typical celebratory family dinner of dishes laced with saffron, Shari began to think about the best way to bring this ‘Queen of the Spices’ to Australian kitchens and the idea for ‘Saffron Store’ was born.
Shari spent the next few years travelling between Australia and Iran where 90% of the world’s saffron originates. He witnessed the painstaking, cooperative harvesting process where whole communities come together during the crocus flowering season to pick out the two or three stigma from each flower that each constitute a single saffron thread. He researched packaging and processing, met with growers and suppliers and absorbed the nuances of saffron production to achieve threads 100% red in colour and packed with flavour. All the while, he was sampling dishes and collecting Saffron recipes, tips and tricks to seek out the most flavour and colour from each thread.

The result is the Saffron Store. An online shop for the highest quality saffron which will bring the robust, warm and generous flavours, reflecting the characteristics of Persian people and culture, to you, our customers.
We hope you enjoy your experience with the Saffron Store, whether it's cooking one of our recipes, buying some of our top quality saffron or using one of our tips to flavour your meal. Let the sunshine of saffron make your day just a little bit tastier and a little bit brighter.