In Iran Iranian raisin such as Golden raisins, Sultana Raisins & Green (Kashmari) raisins are exported to whole world. Iran is currently the third largest exporter of raisins, in the world. Raisins are second only to dates in terms of production, but are higher than dates in world markets.
Turkey and the United States are the first and second largest exporters of raisins in the world, and more than 80% of raisins exports in the world are by Turkey, Iran, Greece, the United States and Chile. Iranian raisins are exported to more than 100 countries. The history of raisin production in Iran’s history goes back to hundreds of years ago, and it is interesting to know that Iran ranks first in the world in terms of diversity in raisin production.
Iran is the third largest exporter of raisin in the world by exporting 92,000 tons (7% global Consumption) of raisins worth around 70 million dollars annually. There are different varieties of Iranian Raisins; Golden Raisins, Sultana Raisins, Kashmari Raisins, Maviz Raisins, Fakhri Raisins and etc. The advantage of Iranian raisins is basically its price and different processing methods, and for this reason, Iranian raisins are among the best raisins in the world.
It is believed that humans suddenly discovered raisins when the grapes dried on the vine. History books note that raisins were sun-dried from grapes as long ago as 1490 B.C. But several hundred years passed before it was determined which grape variety would make the best raisin. In Iran we can divide the variety of raisins into Seeded Raisins Unseeded Raisins, Green raisins, Sultana raisins and Maviz. Green raisins and Sultana raisins are obtained from seedless grapes and Maviz is provided from variety of seeded grapes. We explain raisins preparation method, because these names are related to raisins preparation method as well as the kind of grapes, which is used in raisins production. In Iran over 200 varieties of grapes have been named in different languages, but it is obvious that most of these names are related to one item that has found different names in different locations.