Activ’Inside’s CSR approach CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is at the heart of Activ’Inside, expert in the extraction of active plant ingredients, including saffron and grapes. Active ingredient development, formulation, analysis and turnkey services are offered. Among the actives developed, Safr’Inside™ is a winning illustration of the three CSR pillars of Economy, Social and Environment. Trip to Iran. er year, 300 to 350 tons of saffron dated to 550 years before Christ. A system reco- are used in food. Most of this pro- gnized by UNESCO and the FAO as part of the duction is Iranian, and more pre- heritage - therefore to be protected - so inge- cisely within a single region, the nious is it. And this is how saffron, the raw ma- province of Khorasan, securing the professio- terial of Safr’Inside™ grows in Iran within this nal activity of more than 400,000 locals. It is pollution-free zone. A preserved local economy here, in the village of Seno that Activ’Inside that has been able to survive, and avoid deser- has chosen to work in collaboration with seve- tification thanks to tradition on the one hand, ral cooperatives. Because yes, to obtain 1 kg ofand on the other via the commitment and res- saffron, the picking of 200,000 flowers is essen-ponsibility of industrialists such as Activ’Inside. tial. And of course it is by hand! Because when Today, the company has about forty employees it comes to saffron, there are «saffron» and «saf-on the Bordeaux site; by the end of the year, fron» ... The quality is not the same depending about fifteen people will join the adventure, two on the method of collection and the parts of of whom will be based in Bangkok. Already rea- the flower integrated. The secret is the saffronlizing a turnover of 69% in export, Activ’Inside called «sargol», related to this upper part of thedoes not intend to limit its scope of action.• flower (the stigmas), and only this last one must be transformed to optimize the wanted effects. Otherwise, the visible elements of the flower lo- cated in the upper part are diluted with those of the lower part, hidden, and naturally lessconcentrated in active ingredients, the resul- 65% ting powder will be less effective. This is logi- cal. Another quality criterion put forward by of the world saffron production comes from Activ’Inside to attest the value of its sourcing is the Khorasan province. the origin appellation that this Iranian saffron has recently been granted. Moreover, about ten adulteration tests are carried out on each bat-ch of saffron in order to check its DNA. A qua- 95% lity upstream and downstream, in the respect of the tradition, which allows Activ’Inside to vali- of the Iranian saffron production comes from date the social and economic criteria of its CSR the Khorasan province. approach. Last element of the winning triptych, the envi- ronment, is not forgotten. Back on site, in Seno on the central Iranian plateau, where for more than 2,500 years the Qanat system has been the guarantor of land and crop irrigation. Here, the climate is semi-arid, even arid, characterized by the lack of water. Also these tunnels dug in the mountain (or Qanat system) bring water by gra- vity to the cultivated land, limiting the pheno- mena of evaporation and water loss. It is in this region that the oldest Qanat has been found; #76 - 98 -GAM s’fitcA