Peter Gould

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT PETER GOULD

GROWING AND PRODUCING THE MOST AMAZING VIVID RED SAFFRON WITH INCREDIBLE DEPTHS IN AROMA AND FLAVOUR.We have always been frustrated with the scarcity of high quality unusual food products and this led to my interest in the saffron crocus and the creation of The Cheshire Saffron Company. In 2015 I started working with my brother testing the feasibility of growing saffron in field conditions. We located the best field in terms of soil type, slope, pH etc. The field itself is situated in an area of natural beauty on the sandstone ridge near Delamere Forest. To produce our saffron we wanted to minimise our impact on the surrounding wild life. We therefore do not use fungicides, herbicides or pesticides thus allowing the local wildlife to thrive. The flowers themselves seem to attract the bees from all around during the later months of October and early November.During October and November we hand pick the saffron flowers from the field and then hand process, dry and package the spice. The process of saffron farming is extremely labour intensive with 200 flowers being required for 600 strands of saffron weighing just ~1gram. Unlike lots of other producers we remove the yellow part of the strand, a part of the saffron that has no benefit to the aroma or flavour of the product and infact reduces the quality of the saffron.Saffron production is rife with adulteration due to its high price/lack of regulations. In 2011 The Independent raised awareness of this, suggesting some of the top quality saffron on sale contains as little as 10% saffron. By the addition of other parts of the crocus dyed with artificial additives thus increasing weight of their product and also profit Thus, you would have to add more of this saffron to get the same colour/flavour/aroma compared to Cheshire Saffron.