Girl Scout Cookies: Difference between revisions

Girl Scout cookies are cookies sold by Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) as one of its major fundraisers for local Scout units. Members of the GSUSA have been selling cookies since 1917 to raise funds. Girls who participate can earn prizes for their efforts. There are also unit incentives if the unit as a whole does well. As of 2007, sales were estimated at about 200 million boxes per year.^[1]

The first cookie sales by an individual Scout unit was by the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma in December 1917.^[2] In 1922, the Girl Scout magazine The American Girl suggested cookie sales as a fund-raiser and provided recipes. In 1933, Girl Scouts in Philadelphia organized the first official sale, selling homemade cookies at the windows of local utility companies. The first Girl Scout cookie recipe was a sugar cookie. In 1936 the national organization began licensing commercial bakers to produce cookies.

During World War II the Girl Scouts sold calendars in addition to cookies, because of shortages of flour, sugar, and butter. In 1942 there were 48 cookies per box, available in either vanilla or chocolate. Customers were limited to two boxes during some war years. By 1943 Girl Scouts also collected fat in cans with Girl Scout labels to aid the war effort and sold War Bonds at no profit.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

Each Girl Scout regional council decides which licensed baking company to use for cookie sales in that council, thus determining which varieties are available in the area covered by the council.^[8][9]

Girl Scouts sell cookies to relatives, friends, neighbors, and others in their town or city. In recent years, because of safety concerns, an increased emphasis has been placed on cookie booths, where girls sell from tables in public areas under the supervision of adult troop leaders, rather than door-to-door. Many councils offer the option for customers to sponsor boxes of cookies to be sent to U.S. servicemen and women.^[10] In 2007, an official website was launched, with information on purchasing Girl Scout cookies.

As an incentive to sell, Girl Scouts are sometimes offered prizes, such as stuffed animals, trinkets, coupons, credits toward Girl Scout camp, activities, or uniforms. These incentives vary from Girl Scout council to council. The prizes are usually cumulative, so that a girl who wins the prize for selling 50 boxes of cookies will also get the 25- and 20-box prizes. In some councils, girls may choose to earn more money for their troop instead of prizes, if they are working toward a troop goal such as a trip or other expensive activity. This type of fund raising is intended to teach Girl Scouts valuable skills in planning, teamwork, finance, organization, communication, and goal setting.^[8]

Traditionally each regional Girl Scout council set the prices for cookies sold in that council. A 2006 article in the Boston Globe noted that price "is hardly ever a factor, until buyers find out that the same box of cookies is selling for less in the next town over." The Globe found that a box of Thin Mints sold for $3.50 in Rockland and $4.00 in neighboring Norwell.^[11]

In 2009 the number of Thin Mints, Do-si-dos, and Tagalongs in each box was reduced and Lemon Chalet Cremes became smaller because of the increasing costs of ingredients and transportation. ^[12]

Each Girl Scout council operates its own cookie sale. Approximately 70% of the proceeds stay in the local Girl Scout council to support Girl Scouting in that area, including a portion that goes directly to the group selling the cookies.^[13] The profits are divided by a formula, with local troops receiving about 10-15% of the retail price, the council more than 50%, and the manufacturer the remainder. In 1992 Girl Scouts sold 175 million boxes of cookies nationwide.^[14]

Revenues at all levels are used to pay for events and activities for the Girl Scouts, maintenance of the councils' Girl Scout camps and other properties, cookie sale incentives, and Council administrative costs.^[15]

Girl Scout cookies are made by large national commercial bakeries under license from Girl Scouts of the USA. The bakers licensed by the organization may change from year to year, though this is not common. In 2008 the licensed companies were Little Brownie Bakers (LBB), a subsidiary of Keebler, which is owned by Kellogg's; and ABC Bakers, a subsidiary of Interbake Foods, which is owned by George Weston Limited.^[15][16] ABC Bakers has been licensed to produce Girl Scout cookies since 1936.

Up to 28 varieties of Girl Scout cookies are offered. The same cookies may be sold under different names by different bakeries, with the choice of bakery determining the name. There has been no move to standardize names.^[17][18] The merger of many councils (from 312 to 109) following the August 2006 reorganization resulted in many councils changing bakeries, thus causing some confusion at that time.^[19]

The national Girl Scout organization reviews and approves all varieties proposed by the baking companies, but requires only three types: Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Sandwiches (ABC)/Do-Si-Dos (LBB) and Shortbreads (ABC)/Trefoils (LBB). The other kinds can be changed every year, though several popular favorites, such as Caramel DeLites (ABC)/Samoas (LBB) and Peanut Butter Patties (ABC)/Tagalongs (LBB), are consistently available.

Girl Scout cookie varieties include:

• All Abouts: The LBB version of Thanks-A-Lot . Shortbread cookie dipped in chocolate with a thank you message.
• Aloha Chips: Included white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.^[23]
• Animal Treasures and All Abouts: Replaced by Thanks-A-Lot^[23]
• Apple Cinnamons: Apple shaped sugar cookies with cinnamon sugar.^[23]
• Cafe Cookies: Shortbread with a cinnamon topping.^[23]
• Cartwheels: Reduced fat oatmeal and cinnamon.^[23]
• Cinna-spins (LBB): Cinnamon-flavored cookies shaped like miniature cinnamon rolls that came in 100-calorie packs. Replaced by Daisy Go Rounds.^[23]
• Daisy Go Rounds (ABC): Cinnamon-flavored cookies shaped like daisies; replaced Cinna-spins for the 2009 sale; replaced with Shout Outs! in 2011.
• Double Dutch: Chocolate cookies with chocolate chips.
• Forget-Me-Nots: granola cookie.
• Golden Yangles: Triangular cheddar crackers; sold in the 1980s.
• Iced Berry Pinatas: Sugar cookies with a berry jam center and icing.
• Juliettes/Golden Nut Clusters: Milk chocolate, caramel, and pecans.
• Kookaburras: Layers of wafers and caramel coated in milk chocolate.
• Lemon Chalet Cremes: Rectangular cinnamon sandwich cookies with lemon creme filling; changed to round cookies in 2010; replaced by Savannah Smiles in 2012.
• Lemon Coolers: Vanilla wafers with lemon zest, dusted with powdered sugar.
• Lemon Drops: Sugar cookie with lemon-flavored chips
• Lemon Pastry Cremes: light pastry cookie sandwich with lemon creme filling
• Ole Oles: Powdered sugar cookies with pecans and coconut; sold from 2001 to 2003.
• Oxfords: Chocolate cookies with vanilla cream filling.
• Pinatas: Oatmeal cookie with fruit filling and topped with cinnamon and sugar glaze; introduced in 2004.
• Scot-Teas (Burry): Shortbread cookies with sprinkled sugar.
• Shout Outs: Belgian-style caramelized cookie
• Snaps: Iced oatmeal raisin.
• Striped Chocolate Chips: Chocolate chip cookies with fudge stripes
• Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips: Small sugar- free cookies; discontinued in 2011.
• Sugar Free Chalet Cremes: Lemon pastry cream sweetened with aspartame.
• Van'chos: Vanilla and chocolate cremes.^[24]

Federal guidelines issued in early 2005 called for people to minimize their consumption of trans fat. Concerned parents urged the Girl Scouts to address this and other health concerns about the cookies, suggesting that the cookie program was at odds with the Girl Scouts' healthy living initiative. The Girl Scout organization replied that the cookies were a treat which "shouldn't be a big part of somebody's diet," and said that they are "encouraging" the companies that bake the cookies to find alternative oils.^[25]

In 2007, following reformulation of the recipes for a number of varieties, Girl Scouts of the USA announced that all their cookies had less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, allowing them to meet the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements for "zero trans fat" labeling.^[26]

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is used in some cookies. The bakers claim that it is a necessary ingredient in ensuring the quality of the cookie.^[13]

In September 2011, GSUSA released a new policy on palm oil in Girl Scout cookies to take effect from the 2012-13 cookie season.^[27] Amongst the pledges made, the GSUSA announced it will purchase GreenPalm certificates to support the sustainable production of palm oil.^[28] The certificates offer a premium price to palm oil producers who are operating within the guidelines for social and environmental responsibility set by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Each cookie box will include a GreenPalm logo. GSUSA has also committed to working with its licensed bakers in plans to join other industry leaders in making a pledge to move to a segregated, certified sustainable palm oil source by 2015, based on market availability.

The 2011 policy was formed in response to a prolonged campaign by two Girl Scouts, Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen. In 2007, as 11 year olds, Vorva and Tomtishen earned their Girl Scout Bronze Award by raising awareness about the endangered orangutan and their rapid diminishing rainforest habitat in Indonesia and Malaysia. When they discovered that the Girl Scout Cookies contained palm oil, an ingredient that results in rainforest destruction and human rights abuses, the two girls launched a variety of campaigns in order to convince the GSUSA to remove this ingredient from their cookies. Vorva and Tomtishen were awarded the UN Forest Heroes Award in 2011.^[29]

• Girl Guide Cookies, sold by Girl Guides of Canada
• Trail's End popcorn, sold by the Boy Scouts of America and Scouts Canada

• "Girl Scout Cookies". Girl Scouts of the USA.