A Maltese stamp displaying traditional Maltese soft drink Kinnie and luzzu boats has won first place in a competition among 13 small European postal authorities.

The stamp shows the retro-looking branded Kinnie bottle displayed centre stage with a colourful local backdrop showing traditional luzzu boats, a typical Maltese village shoreline and the cupola, dome and steeples of an iconic baroque church.

“I wanted to give the feeling of someone enjoying a drink – Kinnie – while taking in the view in Marsaxlokk,” said designer Daniel Spiteri who forms part of the creative team at MaltaPost.

“We used a mixed media approach as the retro bottle of Kinnie featured in the stamp is a photo. I also wanted to feature the main ingredient which, in this case, is an orange.”

This is the first time that Malta won the award ever since the Small European Postal Administrations Cooperation (SEPAC) launched the competition in 2009.

SEPAC consists of 13 European postal authorities: Aland, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Guernsey, Iceland, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco and Vatican City.

I wanted to give the feeling of someone enjoying a drink while taking in the view in Marsaxlokk- designer Daniel Spiteri

Malta has been part of SEPAC since its inception in 1996, said Mary Grace Simpson, head of philately at MaltaPost.

She explained that, every year, SEPAC members release a joint stamp issue, bearing a common theme.

Stamp issues from participating member countries are uploaded to an online portal allowing people worldwide to vote for the most beautiful SEPAC Stamp 2022. The 2022 SEPAC issue, had “Local Beverages” as its theme.

Spiteri designed four stamps bearing the chosen theme, each featuring a local beverage. The submissions included the Bajtra Liqueur, San Blas beer, Ġellewża wine and Kinnie. 

The latter was selected for the competition and MaltaPost won first place.

With its stamp design featuring sea buckthorn berries and juice, Aland-Post came in second and Guernsey received third place for its stamp showing a beer-thieving seagull.

“We are proud and honoured to have won this prestigious international award,” said Simpson. “One has to keep in mind that whenever there are competitions that require international public voting Malta tends to fall behind. But this time we won and this means a lot.”