A stamp with the image of the French baguette and the smell of bread printed in Dordogne

La Poste put on sale Friday May 17 a stamp bearing the image of the baguette. The stamp was unveiled Thursday by the Philaposte printing company in Boulazac (Dordogne), on the occasion of Saint-Honoré, patron saint of bakers, reports France Bleu Périgord. The 594,000 copies have the particularity of giving off a bakery smell.

The design represents a baguette surrounded by a blue, white and red ribbon to highlight this symbol of France, listed as UNESCO’s intangible heritage of humanity since November 2022. And that’s when the you rub the wand with your finger until the smell is released. “It releases the odorous capsules”explains Damien Lavaud, printer at Philaposte, who had to use a special technique to deposit the ink on the stamp without breaking the odorous capsules.

“With this stamp, our profession of baker is recognized. It is in honor of our bakers, of the craftsmanship. It represents the work carried out every night to produce this bread”rejoice Evelyne and Lionel Boisseau, two bakers who are organizing a Bread Festival. “The baguette, bread of our daily life, symbol of our gastronomy, jewel of our culture”writes La Poste on its website.

This is not the first time that Philaposte has printed scented stamps. There had already been coffee, chocolate, lavender and even grass scented stamps. The stamp costs 1.96 euros per unit (price of an international letter of 20 grams). It is on sale in post offices, by mail order and on the La Poste website.