Girl Scout cookie
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History
In 1922, the Girl Scout magazine The American Girl suggested cookie sales as a fundraiser and provided recipes. In 1933, Girl Scouts in Philadelphia organized the first official "Girl Scout Cookie" sale, selling homemade cookies in the windows of local utility companies. In 1936 the national organization began licensing commercial bakers to produce them.Overview
Girl Scouts sell to their own relatives and friends. Traditionally, they then walk around the neighborhood and town to visit people's houses, taking orders for number of boxes of each cookie type (Thin Mints, Samoas, etc.) desired by each house and the amount the total order of each customer will cost on a paper chart. Parents also sell to co-workers in the workplace. (In recent years, due to safety concerns, the emphasis is shifting toward cookie booths, where girls make sales from tables in well-frequented public areas, under the supervision of adult troop leaders).As an incentive to sell, Scouts are offered prizes (stuffed animals, trinkets, coupons, credits toward Girl Scout camp, activities, or uniforms, etc.). These incentives vary from Girl Scout council to council, but girls generally earn incentives of successively higher value for the number of boxes they sell. The accumulation of prizes is usually cumulative, so that a girl who has won the prize for selling 100 boxes of cookies will still also get the 75-box prize, the 50-box prize, the 25-box prize, the 20-box prize, the 15-box prize and the 10-box prize. 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 activities.
Exact details vary from Girl Scout council to council, as each council negotiates with the baker and sets their own prices. How this can work out in practice was illustrated by a 2006 article in the Boston Globe, which noted that "cost is hardly ever a factor, until buyers find out that the same box of cookies is selling for less in the next town over:" $3.50 in Rockland and $4.00 in neighboring Norwell, reflecting different decisions by the Girl Scout Council of Southeastern Massachusetts and the Patriots' Trail Council, respectively.McConville, Christine (2006), "Thin Mints can be Cheaper by the Troop", The Boston Globe, April 2, 2006, p. 14
The individual troop selling the cookies typically receives about 40¢ to 60¢ per box (although some girls will negotiate this margin on orders of 5 boxes or more). After the cookies are paid for, the majority of the additional money goes to the Girl Scout Council, and are used to pay for events and activities for the girls, maintenance of the council's Girl Scout camps and other properties, cookie sale incentives, and Council administration costs. Each council can provide a breakdown showing how cookie money is used in that council (this information is usually printed on the back of the girl's Cookie Order Form).
Varieties of Girl Scout cookies
Girl Scout cookies are made by large national commercial bakeries under license from Girl Scouts of the USA. The bakers that the organization licenses change from year to year; as of 2005 they are ABC/Interbake Foods and Little Brownie Bakers. Licensed bakers can offer up to eight varieties of Girl Scout cookies. The national Girl Scout organization reviews and approves all varieties proposed by the bakers, but requires only three types: Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Sandwich/Do-si-dos and Shortbread/Trefoils. The other kinds can be changed every year. Each bakery names its own cookies. Thus the exact kinds, names, and composition of the cookies varies.
Some examples of Girl Scout cookie varieties include:
- Thin Mints: The most enduring and universally familiar Girl Scout cookie. These round, mint-flavored cookies covered with dark chocolate perennially sell the most boxes of any cookie. Thin Mints have never changed their name. These cookies come in a dark green box. Both Little Brownie Bakers and ABC Bakers make Thin Mints.
- Do-si-dos or Peanut Butter Sandwiches or Savannahs: A sandwich cookie. The round, bumpy perforated oatmeal cookie top and bottom surround a peanut butter-flavored layer inside. Savannahs were made by Burry (now out of business) and were named after Savannah, Georgia, where founder Juliette Gordon Low organized the first Girl Scout troop meeting in 1912. These cookies come in an orange box. Little Brownie Bakers calls them Do-si-dos while ABC Bakers calls them Peanut Butter Sandwiches.
- Trefoils or Classic Shortbread: These shortbread cookies are shaped like the Girl Scout Trefoil design. Scot Teas were a similar, lighter sugar cookie made by the now defunct Burry. The first Girl Scout cookie recipe was a sugar cookie. These cookies come in a blue box. Little Brownie Bakers calls them Trefoils while ABC Bakers calls them Classic Shortbread.
- Tagalongs, Peanut Butter Patties, or Hoedowns: These round cookies with a cookie center are covered with chocolate, having under their swollen chocolate surface an inner layer of peanut butter, much like the marshmallow under the chocolate surface in Mallomars. These cookies come in a red box. Little Brownie Bakers calls them Tagalongs while ABC Bakers calls them Peanut Butter Patties.
- Samoas or Caramel deLites: These consist of a circular vanilla cookie about 2inch in diameter with a small hole in the center, covered in caramel and toasted coconut and then striped with chocolate. This is one of the few cookies in the group that has differences depending on the bakery. The reason there are two names is because while similar, the cookies have some differences. Samoas are made by Little Brownie Bakers. They are circular, with an orange color and are thicker from top to bottom; usually they also contain more caramel per coconut. The Caramel deLites, made by ABC Bakers, are actually hexagonal, with a more yellowish tinge, and more of the cookie comes through in the flavor because of the lower caramel content. Overall they are both very popular, and most people never notice the differences. Both varieties come in purple boxes.
- Golden Yangles: A sugar-free cookie. These yellow, triangular cookies taste more like cheese puffs than traditional cookies. They are a favorite among diabetic and dieting Girl Scout cookie customers.
- Lemon Coolers: A reduced-fat cookie. These round, yellow, lemon-flavored cookies are an option geared toward dieting and diabetic customers. These cookies come in a yellow box. Lemon Coolers are made by Little Brownie Bakers.
- Lemon Pastry Cremes: Pastry style sandwich cookies with lemon creme in the middle. These cookies also come in a yellow box. Lemon Pastry Cremes are made by ABC Bakers.
- Thanks-a-Lots: Crunchy fudge coated treats, these cookies are circular and are about 3.5 in (8.9 cm) in diameter. The main part of the cookie is basically a sugar cookie, and it has the words "Thank you" written through the middle in various languages. The bottom of the cookie has a fudge coating as well. These cookies boast that they contain "Zero Grams of Trans Fat Per Serving" in response to criticism from parents that Girl Scout cookies contained too much trans fat and that they were bad for the heart. These cookies come in an aqua box. Thanks-a-Lots are made by ABC Bakers.
- All Abouts: A shortbread cookie with a layer of chocolate on the bottom and featuring Girl Scout related sayings on the top. These cookies come in a pink box. All Abouts are made by Little Brownie Bakers.
- Cartwheels: A cinnamon-oatmeal reduced-fat variety. These cookies come in a light green box. Cartwheels are made by ABC Bakers.
- Café Cookies: A gourmet style cookie, coated with cinnamon. These cookies come in a light brown box. Café Cookies are made by Little Brownie Bakers.
- Classic Cremes: Traditional chocolate and vanilla sandwich cookies
- Double Dutch: A chocolate cookie with chocolate chips. Made by the Little Brownie Bakers, they were retired in 2005 to be replaced by the Café Cookies.
- Thin Mints (25% of total sales)*
- Samoas/Caramel deLites (19%)*
- Tagalongs/Peanut Butter Patties 13%*
- Do-si-dos/Peanut Butter Sandwich 11%*
- Trefoils/Shortbread 9%*
Criticism
Trans fat content
As of 2005, Girl Scout cookies, like many other commercially baked cookies, contain trans fat—one gram per serving in the case of Thin Mints (four cookies), with two grams in every three Do-Si-Dos. Federal guidelines issued in early 2005 call for people to minimize their consumption of trans fat, which is now widely understood to be unhealthy for the heart. Concerned parents have urged the Girl Scouts to address this and other health concerns about the cookies, suggesting that the cookie program is at odds with the Girl Scouts' forthcoming "healthy living" initiative. The Girl Scout organization has replied that the cookies are a treat which "shouldn't be a big part of somebody's diet," and say that they are "encouraging" the companies that bake the cookies to find alternative oils..For the 2006 season, U.S. federal nutrition labeling requirements now mandate listing transfat content. Many of the cookies have been reformulated to be trans fat free.
In 2007, all Girl Scout cookies will have zero trans fat.
Pricing
The price of Girl Scout Cookies is set by each regional council, to be followed by all local troops, and therefore varies by region.The profit from sales are divided amongst three levels within the Girl Scouts organization: the national Girl Scouts of the USA, the regional council, and the local troop of girls. Depending on the price of the box of cookies, the local troop typically revieves between 45¢ and $1.
References
External links
- [Girl Scouts Cookies information at the Girl Scouts of America official website]
- [Girl Scout cookies @ Review the World]
- [ABC Bakers Girl Scout cookie varieties]
- [Little Brownie Bakers cookie varieties]
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