Bottled water on stamps

I was sorting through some stamps the other day when I came across this interesting one from Fiji. It caught my eye because it looked like an advertisment for the bottled water I sometimes drink.

The stamp is, in fact, part of a 2002 set of four (SC 967-970) promoting Fiji Natural Artesian Water.

It was surprising to me to learn that Fiji bottled water actually comes from Fiji and, according to Pacific Magazine, "is poised to surpass national revenues in Fiji from gold production, fisheries and the sugar industry."

The magazine reports that since the first quarter of 2002, Fiji Water has been the second largest imported bottled water into the U.S. by revenue and by volume.

Fiji Water is bottled at the source in a state-of-the-art plant sitting atop a gigantic aquifer, volcanic rocks rich with minerals that have stored water from rainfall some 450 years ago.

To learn more about the stamps and the water, click here.