Kimberly Jung
Army veteran and Harvard Business School alum Kimberly Jung is helping saffron makers in Afghanistan grow their businesses—and find a new way to support their communities.
Inspiration
During Jung’s deployment in Afghanistan as an Army engineer, she was looking for roadside bombs, not a business opportunity. By the time her tour was up in 2010, she had gained an appreciation for Afghan culture and a love for its people. In 2014, her short-term mission became a long-term commitment when she co-founded Rumi Spice, which sources pure saffron directly from Afghan farmers.
Jung, 29, grew up in Los Angeles and her parents wanted her to go to an Ivy League school. “It was a bit of a rebellion that I wanted to go to West Point,” she says. “I wanted to see the world, see what I was made of, do something greater than myself.” After graduation she spent five years in the army and after leaving the military, Jung entered Harvard Business School.
While there, she remembers a professor asking, “What will you do with your one wild and precious life?” The question, adapted from a Mary Oliver poem, stuck with her. For her one wild and precious life, investment banking was not meaningful enough.
Instead, it was helping Afghanistan that called to her the most. A military friend, Keith Alaniz, told her about an Afghan farmer growing saffron, an entrepreneur who had developed marketing materials but had no access to international markets—and he wasn’t the only farmer ready to do business. She was so inspired she bought a ticket to go back to Afghanistan, this time as a civilian.
Aside from underdeveloped roads, language barriers, and cultural and Taliban issues, closing a partnership deal with Afghan farmers was unsettling at first.
“The men would not shake my hand since they were not allowed to touch a woman who was not their wife,” Jung recalled over the phone from Chicago, where Rumi Spice is based. “But I just got back from another trip to Afghanistan and have a ton of photos of these same farmers who are not only shaking my hand, they’re all part of our business. It’s truly become a foundation for peace.”
Keith Alaniz and several other military veterans helped Jung co-found Rumi Spice. They realized the country’s hot, arid land was ideal for growing the saffron crocus flower. Most of the world’s saffron comes from neighboring Kashmir, Iran, which has a similar climate. An advantage in producing Afghan saffron is the ability to get it to the marketplace when it’s fresh and the flavor is more intense. Trade sanctions against Iran means saffron passes through many hands before it reaches the U.S.
“Most commercial saffron is so old that it has no scent,” Jung says. “You can smell ours from across the room.”
Impact
More than 90 percent of the world’s opium originates in Afghanistan. Farmers grow poppies out of economic necessity, not because they want to supply the drug trade, Jung says. The average yearly income is $500. Saffron, gram for gram, is as valuable as gold, considered to be the most expensive spice in the world. It is far more profitable for farmers to grow than poppies and does not interfere with wheat and barley crops, which they need to feed their families.
“We bought two kilos from a farmer and paid him $2,000 per kilo; that’s eight times his annual income,” Jung notes.
In 2014, Rumi Spice partnered with 11 saffron farmers. By 2015, more than 50 wanted to be part of the network. In one year, production escalated from 18 kilos to 100 kilos.
Empowering Afghan women is another aspect of the business. Rumi Spice pays direct wages to 60 women, many of whom work from home, separating the stigmas from the crocuses. A kilo of saffron consists of hundreds of thousands of stigmas.
“These women’s families used to subsist on one meal a day,” Jung says. “Now they eat more than two meals a day.”
Jung recently arranged to meet with high-end chefs at New York City restaurants who experimented with Rumi Spice saffron and were so amazed they immediately signed on. Michelin-starred restaurants that include Daniel, Blue Hill, and Gramercy Tavern feature it in their dishes. Jung’s company started small, but revenue for the year is already up more than 400 percent.
The Future
Saffron has long been used to add a rich, golden hue to paella, risotto, and tea. Jung believes it has many more applications, such as saffron honey, saffron cheese, and saffron vodka. In addition to encouraging more farmers in Afghanistan to grow saffron, Jung’s company plans to expand into sourcing other spices from the country as well.
“We are open to partnerships,” she says, pointing out that saffron is also known to be an effective antioxidant and antidepressant. “I think it could become the next quinoa or Madagascar vanilla.”