TAMPA, Fla. — It’s that time of year — Girl Scout Cookie season.
From Samoas to Tagalongs and Thin Mints, during the months of February and March, Girl Scout troops from across Tampa Bay will pick up more than a million boxes of cookies from their local Tampa warehouse.
Girl Scout mom Sarah Abels picked up more than 5,000 boxes of cookies in the past two weeks for her daughter’s troop, and she’s not even close to being done.
“So last year, they sold 6,000 boxes of cookies,” said Abels. “They have high goals, they have an idea of what they want to do, and they’re working towards it.”
Abels is also the Chief Financial Officer for Girl Scouts of West Central Florida. She said cookie sales are the biggest fundraiser of the year. They’ve been planning this since summer.
“So we place orders to the bakery, they start baking them, they start getting them prepared, and then troops and volunteers, they do their own goal setting, they do their own analysis of their customers,” said Abels.
While troop orders fluctuate every year, the most popular cookie always remains the same.
“So Thin Mints, by far, are always the most popular cookie,” said Abels.
Once the moms' cars are packed with this one-of-a-kind snack, they say it’s important to let the Girl Scouts take charge, like 11-year-old Zoe.
“You got to find who will buy from you, and I mean, you got to make sales. It’s part of the business,” said Zoe.
Zoe said only about 10% of her sales are to friends and family; the rest are strangers, which means setting up stands outside grocery stores and knocking on doors.
“You also learn like sales etiquette, like no eating when you are selling something, or like, saying, 'hi' to somebody but like not chasing them down to make you buy,” said Zoe.
She said the best part is the lifelong friends you make in Girl Scouts. Every year they team up to decide what to do with the cookie profits they worked so hard for.
“This year, we are saving up to go on a cruise,” said Zoe.
This year the Girl Scouts’ newest cookie is Raspberry Rally. They also have a Cookie Finder feature that allows you to find out where Girl Scouts are selling cookies in your area.
For more information, click here.
