Croco e Smilace

Croco and Smilace farm was established in 2003. A small family-run business that aimed from the beginning to revive a once-thriving production process, but one that is now at risk of disappearing because it is difficult and impossible to mechanize: saffron cultivation. In 2004, these two artisans left the city and moved next to their "flowers," six kilometers from the village of San Miniato, on the hills overlooking the old Via Francigena. Over the past two years, mainly to reconnect "palates" with the flavor of a spice too often confused with chemical powders of dubious origin, they have begun to market a series of saffron-based products (honey, chocolate, jams, pâté) and to cultivate three other medicinal plants: rhubarb, mint, and thyme, which they offer in the form of jellies, jam, and purée.