<p>So DH broke the “don’t bring them in the house because I will eat them up” rule about girl scout cookies, but it seems I don’t have to worry too much. Opened the Thin Mints and found 2 teeny sleeves of cookies. Total content: 9 oz. My memory may be terrible, but I thought there’d been three sleeves of cookies at one point (that might have been a long time ago) but surely the two sleeves had more cookies than they currently do. Am I seeing things or did they do this a while ago and I just never noticed??</p>
<p>Yeah, one day soon you’ll need a magnifying glass to see those suckers. I refuse to buy them anymore. The Girl Scouts of America organization ought to be ashamed of itself. What are they teaching their members? That under the guise of “raising money” it’s okay to rip people off?</p>
<p>the package size is about the same, the amount of cookies inside has decreased, (always two sleeves) all while trying to keep them at $3 per box. They finally raised them to $3.50 per box in my area, and the worst thing is that troops only make about 35-50 cents per box, depending on how many you sell. I still love GS cookies and since they are the traditional fund raiser for Girl Scouts, I will always buy them and consider the shrinking quantity a favor, since it does limit calorie intake! :)</p>
<p>I know the cookie fundraiser is supposed to help the national organization also but honestly when such a small amount goes to the local troop I just donate to the troop itself and save myself the calories. I figure my 20 bucks donated to the local troop equals 40 boxes or more. And I HATE turning GS into a year long cookie drive rather than focusing on better things.</p>
<p>They are charging $4.00/box in my area!! Who determines the going rate?</p>
<p>I usually buy cookies for the freezer, buy some for the scouts to send overseas & donate money to the troop.
Its one of the few organizations where I feel like my donations arent eaten up by administrative costs.
However I havent seen any this year!
:(</p>
<p>And the chocolate on the thin mints got mighty thin indeed.
Oh the horror.</p>
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<p>Huh…Then, it sounds like the GSA is being ripped off. </p>
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<p>So, who’s eating the other 3+ dollars?</p>
<p>There is a manufacturing cost…the cookies aren’t baked by elves!<br>
Stop hating on the Girl Scouts (and the delicious cookies) Nobody is making you buy them! Boy Scouts sell popcorn for $15 per tin and it is a very small amount of popcorn. Donations to troops are very welcome. And Girl Scouts love selling cookies. My D loved doing it every year and really learned sales skills from it. Kids could be doing worse things. :)</p>
<p>This explains it.
[Good</a> Question: Where Does Girl Scout Cookie Money Go? CBS Minnesota](<a href=“http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/03/07/good-question-where-does-girl-scout-cookie-money-go/]Good”>http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/03/07/good-question-where-does-girl-scout-cookie-money-go/)</p>
<p>Keelber used to make the GS cookies, and their “Grasshopper” cookies are the same as the Thin Mints, available all year long for a smaller price. Once I found that out, I stopped buying the GS cookies at all, and just give the girls at the tables cash when I pass them at the grocery stores.</p>
<p>Was just gonna say the same about the Keeblers Grasshoppers. I won’t buy them though as I will EAT them!</p>
<p>I walked up outside the grocery store to the cutest set of girlscouts (brownies) about 6 years old I ever saw- bought 10 boxes and they were very excited and added up the money, described the types of cookies in detail and were a good at sales! I went home immediately put them in boxes and sent them to D at college. Thank goodness I was saved from eating them by the wrapping tape!</p>
<p>Girls Scout cookies are made by a variety of vendors depending on your geographic location. Keebler made them in some areas but not others. I’ve gotten those grasshopper cookies, and they are good, but not quite the same as thin mints. I buy cookies from any Girl Scout who asks me. They freeze well (thin mints make a great sandwich cookie dessert with vanilla, choc chip, or mint choc chip ice cream spread between two cookies…).</p>
<p>I’m not “hating on the Girl Scouts”. I’m simply trying to understand the increasing size-shrinkage-to-cost ration that I’ve been observing over the years. It seems more exponential to me than that most other food products, and it quite frankly offends me. I have and do still simply donate to troops selling the cookies outside of stores, but I won’t buy the cookies themselves any more.</p>
<p>BTW, my son was, excuse me is, an Eagle Scout (once an Eagle, always an Eagle), and know all about the popcorn sales. I refused to buy that excessively priced and inferior product too. We would instead donate directly to his troop (H was an assistant, then Acting Scout Master for a time). Neither did we push our son to go door to door selling the product. During the time S was in Scouting, I bought Girl Scout Cookies, even while refusing to buy the popcorn, because at least the cookies tasted good. But there often comes a time when a person has to reassess the value a given commodity holds for him. That time came last year after I opened my last box of Caramel D-Lites.</p>
<p>Have not seen them here yet, but I understand there is a new “cookie locator” app that will tell you where to find them.</p>
<p>I’ve loved Thin Mints since I was a Girl Scout back at the dawn of time, and let me tell you, last year’s batch was so vile that even DS couldn’t finish them. We threw them out. Never again.</p>
<p>Full disclosure…GS council board member here.</p>
<p>GS Cookies serve many purposes:<br>
- They are the council’s largest fundraiser and account, on average, for 50% of council revenues.
- they are most troop’s largest fundraiser. (my troop existed for its 1st 8 years solely on cookie funds and never charged anything more than $20 beginning of the year dues. We camped 2x/year, went to local rep theater, etc)
- teaches girls many skills, such as handling money, speaking to adults, taking rejection, etc</p>
<p>There are only 2 authorized GS cookies bakers: Little Brownie Bakers (owned by Keebler/Kelloggs) and ABC. </p>
<p>If you EVER have a problem w cookies, please contact either the council or the cookie company. GS Cookies have a long tradition and if there are any bad batches, the baker needs to know. (there was a problem w rancid taste of some batches lemon cremes a few years ago and returns were taken with no questions asked). </p>
<p>The prices are set by the individual council based on its contract with the baker and revenue needs. (each council negotiates its own contract - it is not a GSUSA blanket contract. The CBS story is reasonable on the economics I know). Councils are not allowed to discuss pricing with neighboring councils, so pricing discrepancies do exist and can be a problem for troops on the borders. </p>
<p>Please support the girls, as that’s what it’s all about!</p>
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<p>My D graduated from an all-womens’ college, and the personal growth and sense of individual empowerment she gained from that experience was a wonder to behold, so I certainly applaud many of the skills and values the GSA instills in young women. But integrity in business is something I think is just as important to teach. The “give people less and less for increasingly more money” lesson is not one I support. Does the organization really not have any control over or ability to influence the rate at which the portion-to-price ratio of its cookies decreases?</p>
<p>The order forms clearly specify the package weight and cookie count. I always told the girls in my troop to let people know.</p>