Keshmoon Story

Keshmoon is an online platform that connects customers directly to saffron farmers. On this platform you can find the story behind the saffron that you buy, information about each farmer and his/her product in their profiles, get in touch with them, and buy directly from them.

But first and foremost let’s read the story behind Keshmoon

 

What is the story behind Keshmoon?

We are  Mohamad and Hamze Qaempanah, the grand sons of a farmer from Qaen. With the help of our good friend Siamak we co-founded Keshmoon.

Our grandfather, Yussof Qaempanah was the inspiration of this project. We have many wonderful memories of him, one of the most memorable being said: “When I die, I will die with my shovel in my hand.” And just as he had said,  he passed away while harvesting wheat in his farm.

With the memory of our grandfather in our hearts, we were not satisfied with our life and wanted to make it better. Simultaneously, we wanted to create a better world for farmers and consumers alike, and this was how Keshmoon was born.

Siamak was one of the first people who supported the idea, and like a mentor, he joined our team and guided us along the way.

In our city (Qaen), there were 12 qanats, but unfortunately the last one dried out in 2015. The qanat is an underground ancient water distribution channel that was engineered along the water table and allowed access to this life sustaining element of water for an area. Now instead of these marvelous ancient qanat systems, which our ancestors developed thousands of years ago, new deep wells are being used.  

Here is a picture of Qanat Shahik, the last qanat in our city, which for the last 500 years, provided water to people and farmers. Unfortunately, it has now dried out and has been blocked. Today, next to where it once flourished with water is a new well. Just like many parts of Iran, the water table in Qaen has dropped by half meter each year. And the deeper the well goes, the saltier the water becomes. This is a bad news for saffron farmers, as the saffron is sensitive to salty water.

About 10 years ago, the well on our uncle Ibrahim’s farm started to dry out. So, he dug deeper to reach more water, however the salt content (Shown as Electricity Conductivity) was high, and a few years later, Ibrahim’s saffron farm was gone.

 

Why did we decide to found Keshmoon? 

Our grandfathers were farmers.

Our fathers were also farmers, or at least farmers as the second job.

Our generation does not dare to even think about farm work due to the water crisis. 

However, the three of us returned to our land to face the condition that threatens the future of our city and its agriculture. We completely wondered about the treasure we got there. A plant that unlike others remains dormant in the hot summer months and grows in the cooler winter months. Furthermore, as a result of its unique life cycle requires very little water. That treasure is Saffron. 

 

Saffron not only requires very little water to grow, but also is the most expensive spice in the world.

Every time a topic about saffron is being discussed amongst farmers the first concern of them is how most of the profit goes to the middleman and only very little of the profit gets to the farmers. Secondly, all of the saffron that is being sold through the mainstream market at one wholesale price has traditionally been a mix of different sources, regardless of whether it is chemical free and from a good farming practice or not. Thus, saffron quality is uncertain.

Last but not the least, globalization and technology improvement connect everyone around the world. Today, the world is becoming smaller and societies and networks are closer. The younger generation no longer wants to be separated from the world, and this provides a great opportunity to share our agricultural treasures, such as saffron, with socially conscious citizens around the globe.

For all of the reasons mentioned, we decided to run the online platform of Keshmoon.com.

 

How does Keshmoon work?

We do not  grow saffron ourselves at Keshmoon.

We also do not buy saffron from the farmers then resell to you.

As the first step we search for farmers who grow saffron without any synthetic chemical input, and those who are conscious about the water crisis and willing to change their traditional farming techniques in order to lessen their impact on the local water crisis. The next step is to ease these farmers' access to national and international markets by providing them the opportunity to sell their products via our platform (Keshmoon.com).

Through this platform you as a customer can get to know the farmers by their profiles, and select who and what quality of the saffron you want to buy.

In this system Keshmoon supervises and facilitates different phases of the saffron value chain including cultivation, harvesting, sorting, packing, and finally delivering. Therefore, we can ensure the best quality saffron is sold to our customers.

 

Know more about Keshmoon supply chain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJz1DOy7Fvg

We are a legally registered company under Iranian commercial law. Our registration number is 14005929136 and company name Nik Kava Afra.

Our export office address is Hall NO. 8, Azadi Innovation Factory, P.O.Box: 1391955413, Tehran, Iran

Our factory (address for sourcing and packaging) is No. 5, 16th St., Kamal St., Qaen city, South Khorasan, Iran.