Proof, not promises
Lab reports and certificates
Our saffron is tested by the Quality Evaluation Laboratory of the India International Kashmir Saffron Trading Centre (IIKSTC) in Pampore — the Government of Jammu & Kashmir’s own saffron laboratory, accredited to ISO/IEC 17025. The full report is below, every value typed out, with the details you need to check it yourself.
Saffron: ISO 3632 Grade I, tested by IIKSTC
Result: Grade I under ISO 3632-1:2011
- Laboratory
- IIKSTC Quality Evaluation Laboratory, Dussu, Pampore, J&K 192121
- Accreditation
- ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited · NABL certificate TC-11843
- Report number (ULR)
- TC118432400000049E
- Issued
- 5 October 2026
- Product type
- GI-Saffron · Cut – Filamentous
- Lot
- L20020644 (1,024 g)
- Sample
- SPSC-SS/IIKSTC/2026/0055 · 7 g
- Tested
- 1–4 October 2026
| What was measured | Grade I limit | Our result |
|---|---|---|
| Colouring strength (crocin), A¹%₁cm at 440 nm, dry matter | min. 200 | 217.51 |
| Flavour strength (picrocrocin), A¹%₁cm at 257 nm, dry matter | min. 70 | 80.96 |
| Aroma strength (safranal), A¹%₁cm at 330 nm, dry matter | 20–50 | 35.52 |
| Moisture and volatile matter, % mass | max. 12 | 11.72 |
| Total ash, % on dry matter | max. 8 | 4.25 |
| Extraneous matter (floral and plant waste), % mass | max. 0.5 | 0.06 |
| Foreign matter (from other plants), % mass | max. 0.1 | 0.03 |
Crocin, picrocrocin and safranal are absorbance readings (A¹%₁cm) on dry matter, as the standard specifies — not percentages. Higher crocin means more colouring strength; Grade I needs at least 200.
How to check this report yourself
- The report number TC118432400000049E is a NABL Unique Lab Report number. It starts with the lab’s NABL certificate number, TC-11843, which you can look up on the NABL website.
- The laboratory is the IIKSTC Quality Evaluation Laboratory, run by the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Kashmir, at Dussu, Pampore, J&K 192121. Quote the report number and lot L20020644 and they can confirm it.
- Signed by Dr. Majid Ali Dar, Dy. Technical Manager; M. Muzamil Salmani, Dy. Quality Manager-II; Khurshid Ahmad Mir, I/C & Quality Manager.
Two different things: the cut and the grade
Mongra describes the cut: the all-red stigma, with the yellow style removed by hand. That is sorting, done by our family. ISO 3632 Grade I is a laboratory result: colour, flavour and aroma strength, moisture and impurities, measured against the international standard. The first is our work; the second is IIKSTC’s measurement, shown above.
Home checks such as the warm-water test tell you whether threads behave like real saffron — slow golden colour, threads that stay whole. They cannot tell you the grade, the origin or whether every adulterant is absent. That is what a laboratory report is for.
A third thing: the Geographical Indication
The report above records the product type as GI-Saffron: saffron from inside the registered Kashmir Saffron GI area. The GI itself is a mark of origin — Kashmir Saffron, application 635, registered 1 May 2020 by the Geographical Indications Registry, Government of India, with the Director Agriculture, Kashmir (Lalmandi, Srinagar) as proprietor — and it names three types of Kashmir saffron: Lachha, Mongra, Guchhi. It certifies where saffron comes from, not how strong it is; the laboratory grade does that.
All of our saffron is grown inside that area, in Pampore. We call only one jar GI-tagged: the lot that goes through the India International Kashmir Saffron Trading Centre at Dussu and comes back in sealed glass carrying the IIKSTC Kashmir Saffron GI label and its lot code. What the centre does between the two points:
- The grower brings the dried saffron to the collection counter at IIKSTC, Dussu, where it is weighed and given a lot code.
- A coded sample goes to the Quality Evaluation Laboratory on the same campus — NABL-accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 — and is tested under ISO 3632 for colouring strength (crocin), flavour (picrocrocin), aroma (safranal), moisture and impurities.
- The laboratory assigns the grade: Category I, II or III.
- The certified lot is packed on the campus in sealed glass with the IIKSTC Kashmir Saffron GI label and its code, under the Department of Agriculture, Kashmir.
- The lot can be sold through the centre's e-auction, or taken back by the grower to sell as GI-tagged saffron.
- The code on the pack ties the jar to its lot, its grower and its laboratory grade.
That jar is GI Tag Saffron, sold as a pre-order. The registry record is public: GI application 635.
Shilajit
Our Himalayan shilajit is lab-tested for fulvic acid and for lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium, and the jar you receive comes with its test report.
Who you are buying from
The Heritage Kashmir is the brand of Pampore Saffron Farmers Producer Company, a farmer producer company in Pampore, Pulwama, Jammu & Kashmir. Every number below is public and can be checked on the government portal linked beside it.
Company (Ministry of Corporate Affairs)
Pampore Saffron Farmers Producer Company, incorporated 19 July 2021
FSSAI food business licence
State licence, Jammu & Kashmir
GST registration
Regular registration since 18 March 2022
Importer-Exporter Code (DGFT)
Issued 8 September 2023, Srinagar
Udyam (MSME) registration
Micro enterprise, manufacturing
Honoured by leaders & the press
PM Narendra ModiWith our Pampore saffron
Former PM Manmohan SinghReceiving our saffron
With Rahul GandhiSaffron growers' interaction
The Indian ArmyAt our saffron fields
Sikkim CM Prem Singh TamangHonoured in his presence
VAIGA award, KeralaFrom the Agriculture Minister
National pressSaffron, a GoI priority