Vulnerable cookie-lovers, beware: Girl Scouts heading out and about

Vulnerable cookie-lovers, beware:
Girl Scouts heading out and about
KARLA
PETERSON
Test Driving
San Diego
Got willpower, San Diego?
Not anymore. Girl Scout
cookie site sales have started, and resistance — like
carb counting — is futile.
From now until March
8, local Girl Scouts will be
selling cookies at a grocery
store, food court or mall
near you. This year brings
us two new flavors and
something called a Digital
Cookie. And if you want the
karma points without the
guilt, there is still Operation
Thin Mint, which lets you
send cookies to deployed
troops all over the world. All
the goodwill with none of
Emilia (left) and Andrea Quintanar sell Girl Scout Cookies in Chula
Vista last month. PEGGY PEATTIE ● U-T
SEE TEST DRIVE • A8
TEST DRIVE • Digital ordering, gluten-free options new this year
FROM A1
the calories.
From new tastes to priceless perks, here’s how the
2015 Girl Scout cookie-news
crumbles.
Fork it over: Whether
you’re dreaming of DoSi-Dos or screaming for
Samoas, feeding your cravings will now require a little
more dough than it used to.
Cookie prices are
determined by each of the
Girl Scouts’ local councils,
and this year, the councils
in Orange County, Greater
Los Angeles and San Diego
raised prices by $1 to $5 a
box. (San Francisco took the
$5 plunge last year.)
Unlike the Girl Scout
membership fees, which go
to the national organization,
all cookie money stays with
the local council. Last year,
the $6.2 million in proceeds
accounted for 66 percent of
the Girl Scouts San Diego
budget.
And while it seems
like only yesterday that
prices went up to $4, this
is actually the first San
Diego increase in more than
10 years. Time flies when
your watch is full of Trefoil
crumbs.
Digitally delicious: It is
now possible to order Girl
Scout cookies from the
comfort of your home, desk
or favorite coffee shop. Sort
of. Digital Cookie is a new
secure online platform that
allows Girl Scouts to take
orders via the web. It’s not
open ordering season, however. Girls create their own
web pages (which parents
must approve), and then
they email the link to people
they know.
Given that shipping and
handling fees begin at $11.25
for one to six boxes, Digital
Cookie is probably best
left to indulgent relatives
who want to help from afar.
To find the real-life cookie
booth nearest you, go to the
Girl Scouts of San Diego
website (sdgirlscouts.org)
and type your ZIP code into
the “Find Cookies” box. No
shipping, handling (or wait-
ing) required.
Meet the newbies:
Food-trend alert! San
Diego is a test market for
a new gluten-free cookie,
and you will be happy
to know that the new
“Toffee-Tastic” cookie is,
in fact, totally tastic. No
matter which side of the
gluten divide you’re on.
What do you get for
70 calories per cookie? A
deliciously buttery, toffee-spiked shortbread that
doesn’t taste like it is missing a single thing. Except
for a glass of milk and a free
pass from the calorie gods
because you are eating for a
good cause.
Sadly, I will not be waving my guilty-pleasure
pom-poms for the new
Rah-Rah Raisin cookies.
They are dry, a little bland
and not a promising testament to the glories of
whole grains. Better to
spend your 60 calories
per cookie on Thin Mints,
which are just 40 calories
a pop and will stay fresh in
the freezer until the end of
dietary time.
Hello, old friends: Never
fear, your favorites are still
here. In addition to Thin
Mints, our local scouts are
also selling Tagalongs (chocolate-covered peanut butter
sandwich cookies); Trefoils
(shortbread); Samoas (toasted coconut and caramel with
chocolate ribbons); and the
beloved Do-Si-Dos peanutbutter sandwich cookies.
We’ll let 10-year-old Caitlyn
Croston of Poway Troop 8832
do the describing honors on
that one.
“I love them because they
taste like heaven squished
between two cookies.”
Exactly.
Perks of the trade: In the
last 10 years, Andrea Quintanar of Chula Vista figures
she has sold more than
6,000 boxes of Girl Scout
cookies. In the process, she
learned money management (“When I was little,
boy, did that help with my
times tables”); people skills
(“If someone is grumpy, you
Emilia Quintanar makes notes about her goals for
the day before heading out to sell Girl Scout cookies
in her neighborhood recently. PEGGY PEATTIE • U-T
just shrug it off and move
on”); and retail wisdom
(“You learn how much of a
difference it makes to smile
and say thank you”).
She has earned money for
her troop, taught younger
sister, Emilia, the ropes and
helped fund summer camps
for Scouts who couldn’t
afford to go otherwise. But
as the 18-year-old High
Tech High International
senior contemplates her last
cookie season, what she’ll
remember most is not the
selling, but the Scouting.
And it’s been sweet.
“There have been so
many leadership opportunities,” said Quintanar,
who is part of a Girl Scouts
group called Global Arms of
Advocacy. “We deal with a
lot of world issues, particularly pertaining to women
and children and education.
There are a lot of opportunities for girls when you’re
older. It’s not just camp and
cookies.”
karla.peterson@utsandiego.com
(619) 293-1275
CORONADO EAGLE & JOURNAL IMPERIAL BEACH EAGLE & TIMES
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EBRUARY 12, 2015
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EBRUARY 12, 2015
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Girl Scout Cookie Season Well
Underway In Coronado
Jenevieve’s mother, Sherry, notes the program has been very beneficial for her daughter. “It has taught her not only communication skills she needs in everyday life, but
also gave her new confidence that she did
not know she had before.”
Girl Scouts also help serve the military by
inviting customers to donate cookies to Operation Thin Mint (OTM)®, a local program
that started in 2002. This year, the community will celebrate sending the 2.5 millionth box of OTM cookies — and countless “notes to show we care” — to deployed
military troops.
Submitted photo
Saturday, Feb. 7, Jenevieve hosted booths at Lee Mather Company Realtors and Walgreens
in Coronado, and (pictured) Wally’s Marketplace in I.B.
Local Girl Scouts are out in full force, helping residents stock up on America’s favorite
confection…Girl Scout cookies! Every penny from each $5 box of cookies stays in San
Diego to fund troop activities. In addition,
the Girl Scouts San Diego council’s proceeds finance events, camp, volunteer training, facilities and financial aid for nearly
40,000 local girl and adult members.
This year’s cookie offerings include two
brand new varieties — crisp Rah-Rah Raisins and gluten-free Toffee-tastics with
Greek yogurt-flavored chips — along with
returning favorites Thin Mints, Samoas,
Do-si-dos, Trefoils and Tagalongs. The Toffee-tastics are available on a limited basis
through a pilot program.
Other new developments include the Digital
ings for a trip to Disneyland. This year, as an Cookie program, a secure platform through
Individual Girl Member, Jenevieve plans to which Girl Scouts, with parental approval,
use cookie funds to attend Girl Scout camp. can sell cookies online for the first time to
people they know. And, to celebrate the 40th
Watch for Girl Scouts selling cookies at 340 anniversary of Samoa cookies, customers
booths in front of grocery stores and other who spend $40 receive a free box of Samobusinesses throughout San Diego and Impe- as, while supplies last.
rial Counties. To find a booth near you, or
download the cookie finder app, visit www. New Girl Scouts and adult volunteers are
sdgirlscouts.org/cookies. The cookie pro- welcome to join the cookie action, as well
as participate in Girl Scouting adventures
Participants include Girl Scout Cadette gram ends on Sunday, March 8.
year-round.
Jenevieve, an I.B. resident who attends
Coronado Middle School. Her cookie pro- The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the
gram-funded Girl Scouting activities in- world’s largest girl-led business, teaching To sign up, go to www.sdgirlscouts.org/
clude beach clean-ups, holiday caroling at Girl Scouts like Jenevieve learn important membership, or contact Blanca Santos,
retirement homes, and helping younger Girl lessons about goal setting, decision-making, at bsantos@sdgirlscouts.org or (619) 610Scouts learn new skills. Last year, she and money management, people skills and busi- 0757. For general information, visit the
other members of a troop she belonged to ness ethics. Many successful women say Girl Scouts San Diego website, www.sdgdonated half their cookie proceeds to Rady they developed these aptitudes, along with irlscouts.org.
Children’s Hospital. They also used earn- self-confidence, while selling cookies.
SAN DIEGO DAILY TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 20, 2015
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POWAY PATCH
FEBRUARY 11, 2015
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It's Girl Scout Cookie Time!
Girl Scout Cookies are here! Poway sisters Katie and Ellie are selling your favorite dessert to help
patients at Rady's Children's Hospital.
Poway Girl Scouts are out in full force, helping residents stock up on America’s favorite confection … Girl
Scout Cookies!
Offerings include two brand new varieties — crisp Rah-Rah Raisins and gluten-free Toffee-tastics with
Greek yogurt-flavored chips — along with returning favorites Thin Mints, Samoas, Do-si-dos, Trefoils and
Tagalongs. The Toffee-tastics are available on a limited basis through a pilot program.
Other new developments include the Digital Cookie program, a secure platform through which Girl Scouts
(with parental approval) can for the first time sell cookies online to people they know. And, to celebrate the
40th anniversary of Samoa cookies, customers who spend $40 receive a free box of Samoas, while supplies last.
Girl Scouts also help serve the military by inviting customers to donate cookies to Operation Thin Mint®
(OTM), a local program that started in 2002. This year, the community will send the 2.5 millionth box of
OTM cookies — and countless “notes to show we care” — to deployed military troops. The public is invited
to help celebrate at the annual OTM Sendoff Celebration on Saturday, May 2.
Local cookie program participants include Poway sisters Katie (pictured, left) and Ellie of Girl Scout Junior
Troop 8157. The girls use their cookie proceeds to fund Girl Scouting adventures and to make the world a
better place. This year, Troop 8157, led by Lisa M. Suzuki-O’Connell, will use its earnings for a community
service project benefiting patients of Rady Children’s Hospital, and for a horseback riding trip.
LA PRENSA SAN DIEGO
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EBRUARY 6, 2015
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Every penny from each $5 box of cookies stays in San Diego to fund troop activities. Among those benefiting are the more than 1,600 girl and adult members in the Poway area. In addition, the Girl Scouts San
Diego council’s proceeds finance events, camp, volunteer training, facilities and financial aid for nearly
40,000 local girl and adult members.
It’s Girl Scout cookie time!
Chula Vista Girl Scout Junior Troop 6010 is on a cookie mission: to do great things! Pictured, left to right, are Viviana, Sofia, Carolina, Vanessa and Nayra.
Local Girl Scouts are out in
full force, helping residents
stock up on America’s favorite
confection … Girl Scout cookies! Every penny from each
$5 box of cookies stays in San
Diego to fund troop activities.
In addition, the Girl Scouts
San Diego council’s proceeds
finance events, camp, volunteer training, facilities and
financial aid for nearly 40,000
local girl and adult members.
Watch for Girl Scouts selling
cookies at 340 booths in front
of grocery stores and other
businesses throughout San
Diego and Imperial Counties,
starting Friday, Feb. 6. To find
a booth near you, or download
the cookie finder app, visit
www.sdgirlscouts.org/cookies.
For the girls and parents of
Girl Scout Junior Troop 6010
of Chula Vista, the cookie program is fun and rewarding.
“It is such a good experience
for girls, helping them grow
as leaders and become more
independent and creative. And
the money they earn gives
them more opportunities to
participate in, and learn from,
Girl Scout activities … and
meet other girls. My daughter
Vanessa really enjoyed going
to camp, where she made a lot
of new friends,” reports Shari
Cárdenas. She co-leads Troop
6010 with Rosa Ruiz, the
mother of Viviana.
The Girl Scout Cookie
Program is the world’s largest
girl-led business, teaching important lessons about goal setting, decision-making, money
management, people skills and
business ethics. Many successful women say they developed
these aptitudes, along with
self-confidence, while selling
cookies.
Girl Scouts also help serve
the military by inviting
customers to donate cookies to Operation Thin Mint
(OTM)®, a local program
that started in 2002. This year,
the community will celebrate
sending the 2.5 millionth
box of OTM cookies — and
countless “notes to show we
care” — to deployed military
troops.
This year’s cookie offerings
include two brand new varieties — crisp Rah-Rah Raisins
and gluten-free Toffee-tastics
with Greek yogurt-flavored
chips — along with returning
favorites Thin Mints, Samoas,
Do-si-dos, Trefoils and Tag-
alongs. The Toffee-tastics are
available on a limited basis
through a pilot program.
Other new developments
include the Digital Cookie
program, a secure platform
through which Girl Scouts
(with parental approval) can
sell cookies online for the first
time to people they know.
And, to celebrate the 40th
anniversary of Samoa cookies,
customers who spend $40
receive a free box of Samoas,
while supplies last.
THE U-T
CBS
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EBRUARY 17, 2015
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FEBRUARY 13, 2015
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DIANE
BELL
Righting a wrong:
Despite a long-standing
national anti-discrimination policy, local Girl Scout
executives learned that a
county mental health leader
had been barred 54 years
ago from joining a Brownie
troop in Long Island, N.Y.,
because her skin is black.
So they decided to make
amends this month, which is
African American History
Month.
Daphyne Watson, chief
executive of Mental Health
America’s San Diego chapter, thought she was headed
to a Girl Scout event for her
granddaughter last Friday.
Instead, Watson turned
out to be the focus when
her daughter, Sophonya
Simpson-Adams, a Troop
4044 leader, took the stage
and shared her mother’s
childhood story.
The troop then presented
Watson with a Brownie sash
and patches commemorating her lifetime achievements. After reciting the
Girl Scout Promise and Law,
Watson was inducted into
Troop 4044 and walked the
ceremonial Scout “bridge.”
The event, righting a
wrong, was picked up on
national news and triggered
congratulatory emails from
across the country to Girl
Scouts San Diego CEO Jo
Dee Jacob.
Watson, who told reporters she was proud to join
her granddaughter’s troop,
will not be required to sell
cookies, Jacob says, but she
may just help out her granddaughter.
NBC 7
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EBRUARY 14, 2015
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U-T NORTH COUNTY
FEBRUARY 7, 2015
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North
County
Community News
NC
SATURDAY •
FEBRUARY 7, 2015 | B3
GIRL SCOUTS COLLECT BOOKS FOR LIBRARY
LINDA McINTOSH • U-T
RANCHO BERNARDO
A troop of Girl Scouts in
Rancho Bernardo is collecting books to start a library at
a preschool in Escondido.
The idea is to encourage
reading among children who
might not otherwise have
much access to books.
The group of fifth-grade
girls in Rancho Bernardo’s
Troop 8907 plans to donate
the new and used books
they receive from community members to create a library at Hickory Head Start
Preschool.
The girls chose the proj-
ect because they love reading and wanted to promote
literacy, said troop mom
Molly Engblom.
After doing research, the
Scouts found that not having enough access to books
at an early age was the most
common cause of illiteracy,
Engblom said. They brainstormed how they could help
solve the problem and came
up with the idea of creating a
preschool library to encourage reading at a young age.
The troop got in touch
with various organizations
to find a preschool to partner
with. The troop emailed the
MAAC project, founded as
the Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee on AntiPoverty, which runs Head
Start programs throughout
San Diego County, and was
connected with Hickory
Head Start Preschool.
The 10-member troop
toured the school and saw
the room where the library
is going to be set up.
“We chose this as our
project because we thought
it would be fun and we could
help kids learn to read who
don’t have a lot of books,”
said troop member Madie
Engblom.
The Scouts plan to donate
the money they get from
selling cookies to help pay
for bookshelves and a floor
rug for the new library; they
are also collecting donations
for these items.
The book drive started
Feb. 1 and continues through
March 31.
The Scouts are working
on getting drop boxes for
donations at various locations. Currently, books can
be dropped off at Turtleback Elementary School,
15855 Turtleback Road, and
Canyon View Elementary
School, 9225 Adolphia St.
For more information,
email gs8907@gmail.com
or call (858) 200-6527.
Troop 8907 members are collecting books to start
a preschool library. Top row (from left): Isabel
Remick, Ariana Fordham, Madison Armstrong,
Kailey Thompson, Maddie Engblom, Ella Godun and
Lauren Crane. Bottom row (from left): Abigail Frederick, Jenna Cardno and Zenzele Greene.
SD METRO DAILY BUSINESS REPORT
FEBRUARY 19, 2015
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SAN DIEGO READER
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EBRUARY 20, 2015
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COOKIES ON TAP
A sweet pairing for grownups: Girl Scout cookies
and craft beer.
Suds will replace milk for dunking during Cookies
on Tap, a collaboration between Mike Hess Brewing,
Cohn Restaurant Group, and Girl Scouts San Diego.
The over-21 crowd is invited to this unique craft
beer, cookie, and cuisine fest during National Girl
Scout Cookie Weekend (Friday-Sunday, February
27-March 1).
For the occasion, Mike Hess brewmasters will infuse
mint into their Umbrix Rye Imperial Stout and serve
it with Girl Scouts’ most popular cookie.
Girl Scouts San Diego will receive a portion of the
proceeds from every cookie pairing flight (five 5.5
oz. beers and five different cookies). Cookies on
Tap will also support Operation Thin Mint, a local
Girl Scout program that sends “a taste of home
and a note to show we care” to deployed military
troops.
•
Age limit: 21+
•
When: Friday, February 27, noon to midnight
•
Additional date(s):
•
Saturday, February 28, 2015, noon to midnight
•
Sunday, March 1, 2015, noon to 10 p.m.
•
Where:
Mike Hess Brewing North Park
3812 Grim Avenue, San Diego, 92104
Cost: $15
92129 MAGAZINE
EBRUARY 1, 2014
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FEBRUARY 1, 2015
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92130 MAGAZINE
FEBRUARY 1, 2015
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92078 MAGAZINE
TIERRA TIMES
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
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SAN DIEGO FAMILY MAGAZINE
FEBRUARY 1, 2015
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL BLOG
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ANUARY 30, 2015
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$5 Thin Mints? The
Changing Economics of
Girl Scout Cookies
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cookie lovers who plan to stock up on Thin Mints, Samoas
and Trefoils this year might feel a pinch in their wallets depending on where they buy them.
And a price hike for Girl Scout cookies in some regions is
only one change taking place as the annual selling season gets
under way. In addition, some scouts’ families are feeling extra
pressure to rack up sales following a change in selling practices
in some areas.
Cookie Inflation
Girl Scout cookie inflation has hit Southern California,
where local councils in San Diego, Orange County and Greater
Los Angeles have raised the price of a box to $5 from $4, following the example of San Francisco’s local council last year.
It is the first increase in those markets in a decade. Girl
Scouts of Greater Los Angeles says its operating costs, for
rent, training materials, staff support and other expenses, are
up 28% since 2004, and the cost of cookies from the baker has
increased 19%. In San Diego, operating expenses are up 38%
and the cost of cookies is up 23%.
Girl Scouts of Orange County, on its website, suggests that
the beloved snacks are still a bargain at $5 a box. If cookie
prices had kept pace with local inflation of 46% since 2004, it
says, the cookies would now cost $5.84 a box.
The Los Angeles council “has been discussing this change
A Girl Scout troop leader explains the various cookie flavors earlier this month in
with all of our neighbors for the past two years and believe that
Panama City Beach, Fla.
having all councils change in the same year would be ideal,”
the group says on its website. Still, “each council is making
this decision based on their individual circumstances.” It says that the San Gorgonio and Central California Coast chapters “have chosen to stay at the $4 price for another
year because of circumstances specific to their regions.”
Prices are increasing in other markets, too. In the South, some councils have gone up to $4 a box from $3.50. Girl Scouts of Greater New York, on the other hand, is keeping
its price this year at $4 a box.
A spokeswoman for Girl Scouts USA, the national organization, says each of its 112 local councils determines its own price, and that prices will fluctuate from
region to region. The local councils negotiate directly with one of the two bakers that are responsible for manufacturing the cookies, Little Brownie Bakers in Louisville,
Ky., and ABC Bakers, a unit of Interbake Foods in Richmond, Va.
For each box sold at the new higher prices, more money typically flows to local scout troops. Los Angeles, troops will collect 27% more per box because of the price
increase, an extra 95 cents that goes to support local scout activities.
The troops are banking on a little loyalty to prevent people from traveling up the coast for the $4 cookies.
And to help boost sales in the early days, Los Angeles is moving this year to a “direct sale” approach: Rather than going door to door and writing down orders
and delivering the cookies weeks later, many of the 40,000 Girl Scouts in Los Angeles will have their cookie boxes in hand when they start ringing neighborhood doorbells
on Sunday.
Buyers hesitant to pay a higher price may be tempted by the ability to immediately take the cookies inside and start snacking.
Immediate Gratification, Added Pressure
Nearly half of Girl Scout councils nationwide have or are moving to adopt direct sales, according to the national organization. Los Angeles is the biggest market
yet to revive the practice, which harkens back to the way Girl Scouts sold cookies nearly 100 years ago.
With direct sales, the troops have to estimate how many boxes they can sell this year and order them in advance through the council. Some troop moms privately complain
that puts extra pressure on them as parents to make sure their girls can sell the cookies and avoid getting stuck with unsold inventory.
The Girl Scouts of Central Illinois, where the price of a box is still $4, has moved to a hybrid system, combining direct sales and the more familiar pre-order
model. When they began doing direct sales a couple of years ago, estimating demand based on prior-year sales proved tricky, says council CEO Pam Kovacevich. “You
don’t want troop leaders to be left with a lot of inventory,” she says.
Councils get stuck absorbing the cost of unsold cookies, so they try to avoid that, she says. Unsold boxes can be traded to other troops that need more, sold as part of booth
sales some troops sponsor in public spaces, or donated.
The Bottom Line
Cookie sales are big business for scout troops, and that calls for careful financial analysis and forecasting around changing prices and delivery models.
The Los Angeles council offers troops a “Recommended Starting Inventory Worksheet” with separate guidance for returning troops and new troops on the appropriate number of boxes to buy. The calculation for new troops considers factors including Girl Scout level, geographic location and cookie-flavor popularity, the council website says.
Will there be resistance to $5 Thin Mints? The Los Angeles council doesn’t think so. Sales would have to drop 23%, in terms of number of boxes sold, to have a
negative impact on proceeds, and it planned for a possible 10% to 15% decrease anyway.
“Our research shows that many customers don’t know what they pay per box now,” the council’s website says. “People understand that costs go up over time.”