OUR STORY
LET'S CULTIVTE HOPE ONE SAFFRON TRHEAD AT A TIME...
Following high school, I took on a meaningful role as a Local Military Linguist for the US Army & US Marines at Camp Stone in Herat, Afghanistan.
1) Uplifting smallholder farmers’ community by paying fair wages for their saffron and crops.
2) Making authentic Afghanistan saffron & single origin spices accessible to chefs and home-cooks in United States.
3) Helping farmers to cultivate saffron instead of poppy seeds.
4) Employing Afghanistan women, and contributing to education projects by giving 5% of our net-income back to education charities via Code To Inspire.
Fair Wages For All
Our journey began in April 2017, and we officially launched our product in 2018. Starting with a modest 3 LB of saffron from my own family, we've grown to include 256 farmers and 200 independent farms in our cooperative.
Last year alone, we imported and sold over 318 KG (~700 LB) of saffron. Not only we pay local family farmers with fair wage & better price for their saffron, but also we created 200+ seasonal job opportunitines for local farmers and residents of Herat Afghanistan.
A REPLACEMENT FOR POPPY SEEDS
At Heray Spice, we believe in helping Afghanistan farmers to cultivate saffron instead of poppy, and making a better living for themselves. For Afghanistan soil, weather, and enviroment this is the perfect replacement.
On average after the first year, saffron produces three times better crop value compared to poppy seeds.
It is also our dream to make Afghanistan famous for the beautiful flowers of SAFFRON and NOT the opium & poppy seeds.
Education For All
We are committed to empowering women and supporting education in Afghanistan through Heray Education Fund where we contribute 5% of our net-income to Education Charities inside Afghanistan.
We are partnering with Code To Inspire (CTI) Organization, and Mr Faez Academy, two highly respected organizations that are dedicated to make positive impacts on Afghanistan women and empowerment of young girls through STEM education.
Our Values
Our Team
MOHAMMAD SALEHI
ANITA Salehi
SHAHRAM
MOHAMMADI
Nemat
salehi
Tariq Shaheen
Masoud Ahmadi
Masih Rastar
Zubair Yousofi
Our Farmers
━━ What Does Heray Mean?
Heray or Heraywa is the ancient name for the current city of Herat. Heray was a famous and important city of Khorasan province during Sasanian dynasty. It was also named as the “Crown of Khorasan”.
We named our company Heray Spice, because 90% of Afghanistan saffron is cultivated in this province, and Heray is our hometown. Our founder Mohammad Salehi grew up in Herat Afghanistan, and I went to Heray High School (A local high school in Herat City of Afghanistan). And that is why we named our compnay as Heray Spice.
Office & Shipping Facility in USA
3717 N Ravenswood Ave
Suite 115E
Chicago, IL, 60613
━━ What is Heray Spice Cooperative?
Heray Spice is a local business based in Chicago Illinois with a social mission to help farmers with better wages while helping chefs with freshest and highest quality spices from Afghanistan.
We are also a farmers co-operative based in Herat Afghanistan where we bring farmers together to train them on food safety, standard packaging, and safe processing of saffron.
To import the highest quality saffron and pay our farmers better wages, Heray farms are owned by local farmers and has partnership to only supply saffron for Heray Spice. Our farmers are being paid based on fair-trade principles.
━━ Heray Cooperative Office in Afghanistan
Farqa Street, Amiriyat Square
Afghanistan International Saffron Market
Second Floor, Office #22
Herat City, Herat, Afghanistan
