Girl-Scout Cookies On Endangered Confections List
LatestGirl Scouts are pinching pennies by cutting cookie varieties. Don’t worry, the Thin Mint is safe.
In a money-saving experiment, a dozen Girl Scouts councils are each going to sell only 6 varieties. On the safe list? Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos (peanut butter), Trefoils (shortbread) Samoas aka Caramel deLites. Lemon Chalet Cremes and Tagalongs (that peanut-butter sandwich cookie.)
Endangered varieties include “Thank U Berry Munch” and “All Abouts” shortbread cookies. Also trans-fat-free varieties and a diabetic-friendly chocolate-chip cookie, which seems a shame. And if these don’t sound familiar, you’re not alone: the top 5 make up 77% of all sales. (Although you can test your knowledge with this interactive quiz!)
As for the Dulce de Leche cookie, says Donna Ceravolo, executive director and CEO of the Girl Scouts of Nassau County in New York, to the Wall Street Journal, “The Dulce de Leche cookies were another attempt to attract the Spanish-speaking market, but I don’t think Spanish-speaking people bought any more than English-speaking folks.” Indeed, according to the article, the cult following for that endangered confection knows no race or creed. Take the case of Josephine Woytas, a champion 12-year-old seller from Oologah, Oklahoma.
Her family still craves the caramel Dulce de Leche cookies so much that they hoarded a few boxes last year and are rationing cookies to make them last as long as possible. “I can’t believe they took those away,” young Ms. Woytas says. “We liked them so much I ordered a box and paid for it all by myself, and then my dad went behind my back and ate them.”
It’s obvious the Girl Scouts will have to take a page from Disney’s book, bringing these limited-edition sweets out of the vault at intervals and creating the impression of great preciousness.
Cookie Cutters: Girl Scouts Trim Their Lineup for Lean Times [Wall Street Journal]