Sniff, stick, send: France rolls out croissant-scented stamps

Scented stamps designed to celebrate artisan croissants hit letterboxes across France on Wednesday, honouring the world-famous delicacy.

Nearly 600 000 postage stamps will pay tribute to the "emblem of French gastronomy," the national postal service, La Poste, said on their website.

The scent of butter and flaky crust wafts through a post office in Valence, where director Anthony Richet told AFP he was "quite proud" to be selling the stamps.

It is one of three locations where the new design was introduced during Tuesday's preview sale, coinciding with the national competition for the best butter croissant in southeastern France.

The branch in the south-eastern French city serves 400 customers every day.

"Of the 400 I had yesterday, there were fifty collectors who showed up," some even coming from Lyon, said Richet.

"I had a stock of 1 000 stamps available, and on the first day, more than 400 stamps were already gone," he added.

Costing 2.10 euros (R20), the croissant-scented stamp can be used for international mail and also features a souvenir print.

"It is a symbol of France's influence abroad," Richet said.

In 2024, La Poste also released scratch-and-sniff stamps that smell like baguettes ahead of the Olympic Summer Games in Paris.