Afghan Saffron Coming To U.S. Stores : NPR

NPR's Renee Montagne asks Keith Alaniz and Emily Miller about the spice company they founded with a group of veterans who served in Afghanistan.

For Afghanistan, it can be the small victories that count. And let's hear about one now. For the first time since America sent troops there in 2001, Afghanistan is sending back food available throughout the U.S. The fledgling company Rumi Spice announced this week that its saffron will be on the shelves of Whole Foods this fall.

That's the rich red spice that creates golden dishes. It flourishes in the fields of Afghanistan - fields that the combat veterans who founded Rumi Spice know well. Kimberly Jung is one. Joining us are the other two founders, Keith Alaniz in Chicago and Emily Miller here in our D.C. studio. Good morning.

MILLER: Saffron is the world's most expensive spice. We also realized it's an economic alternative to opium. It is a beautiful spice that is hand-picked by thousands of laborers in just a few weeks during the harvest - in October, November. And we realized it presented a really phenomenal opportunity for the farmers and for the women of Afghanistan. 

MILLER: We should also mention USAID did a great job of laying the foundation - you know, really spreading the idea of growing the saffron. The gap that we saw was that these farmers didn't have a marketplace to sell it to. And that is really where we came in and realized that we could sell this incredibly high-quality, premium product to U.S. consumers. - Read More

Afghan Saffron Coming To U.S. Stores