Did you know the best saffron in the world is grown in Afghanistan? Yeah, we didn’t either.
Rumi brings flavorful, ethically sourced and socially responsible spices from Afghanistan to our customers while catalyzing sustainable rural economic development in Afghanistan and providing countless jobs to Afghan farmers and women who harvest and process the spices. They also help Illinois and families across the US by offering jobs.
But the founders of Rumispice, a team of veterans who visited Afghanistan at the invitation of Uncle Sam. figured it out and, following their military service, set out to make a difference in that country. They used grants from the government and small business loans from Illinois lenders that focus on veteran businesses. As there are many resources out there for Veteran small business loans in Illinois.
According to their blog, “Rumi sources the saffron from local Afghan farms and employs more than 300 women in Herat, Afghanistan to hand-harvest the delicate crimson stigmas of the flowers.” They could not have done this without government financial assistance from loans and grants as well as mentoring programs. By providing jobs to Afghan women they help create economic stability at the local level and the company puts money back into the agriculture and manufacturing sectors in the country.
Rumi’s founders were a team of military veterans who served in Afghanistan with the US Army. They developed our strong Afghan networks and on-the-ground understanding of how business is conducted. With this knowledge, we built the critical relationships, partnerships, and organizational infrastructure necessary to operate within and out of Afghanistan.
Our competitive advantage is our ability to navigate the Afghan business landscape, which is built on trusted relationships.
Rumi began with a mission to cultivate peace in Afghanistan. Over 80% of the Afghan population is reliant on the rural agricultural economy. The success of the spice industry not only helps farmers and the women providing direct labor, it can touch every member of the village we work in. We have seen output from our existing partners double and triple, while new farmers have asked to join our network.
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