When I first read about the new Girl Scout cookie flavor that was flying off the digital shelves and sold for hundreds of dollars on eBay, I was skeptical.
I like Girl Scout cookies as much as anyone (my favorites are the clover and the lemon ones), but I couldn’t imagine hitting the resale market to get my hands on a box.
So when we got the Raspberry Rallys delivered to the office, I was excited to try them out and see how they stacked up against their sister cookie, the Thin Mint.
They are described as a “thin, crunchy biscuit infused with raspberry flavor, dipped in a layer of chocolate.”
After trying the Rallys for the first time, it was pretty apparent why the Girl Scouts haven’t been able to keep them in stock. I’m normally not the biggest fan of mixing berry flavor with chocolate, but the vendors at Little Brownie Bakers knocked it out of the park.
The cookies smell great, the crunchy texture is nice and light and the chocolate coating is not too thick. They are also attractive to look at, with the colorful pink interior contrasting with the chocolate coating.
As far as the level of quality you can expect from a $5 box of cookies, this is about as good as you could have hoped for.
Popping them in the freezer, the way I prefer to enjoy my Thin Mints, resulted in a deliciousness that was even better, and I had to restrain myself from saving an entire sleeve.
That being said, I won’t be jumping on eBay anytime soon to stock up on more. The Girl Scouts organization itself has issued a statement criticizing resellers for “seeking to profit from the name without supporting our mission and the largest girl-led business program in the world.”
Also, the Lemon-Ups are still available.
THERE IS A BIG SHORTAGE OF GIRL SCOUT COOKIES
This is how the Girl Scout cookie falls apart.
Amid widespread cookie shortages, Girl Scouts of America They said they are “keeping all options open” as frustrations mount with one of their bakery partners, Little Brownie Bakers, owned by Italian confection giant Ferrero.
Little Brownie Bakers, or LBB, notified Girl Scouts Monday morning that weather-induced power outages at their Louisville, Kentucky, factory halted cookie production for the weekend of March 5, which further delayed inventory.
The power outages come amid a series of production delays and issues LBB has cited to Girl Scouts since January, the start of the sales season, according to a person familiar with the matter. In an email obtained by CNBC, Girl Scout executives told local troop leaders they expected their bakery partners to be “further ahead of demand” than LBB has been thus far.
Inventory problems have caused shortages of some cookie flavors that have skyrocketed the resale prices of Girl Scout cookies. Boxes of the newest limited edition flavor, Raspberry Rally, will be sell on eBay for $35. Girl Scout cookie boxes they are usually $5 each.
Little Brownie Bakers has also said mechanical problems have gotten in the way of producing Samoas, the popular caramel coconut cookie. This is the third year in a row that the baker has struggled to keep up with cookie production, said the person, who is not allowed to speak about the issue publicly.
“We are extremely disappointed that LBB is once again having trouble managing its production,” a Girl Scouts spokesperson told CNBC. “We will be addressing these issues with our bakery partner moving forward and are keeping all options open to do right by our girls.”
The recall was initiated when a piece of wire was found.
As of this week, approximately 75% of the local Girl Scout troops are supplied by LBB and as a result have been unable to meet your cookie sales targets, which are the biggest driver of funding for the troops. The other 25% of Girl Scout tips are supplied by ABC Bakers, a smaller bakery company that the Girl Scouts say hasn’t had the same production problems as LBB.
Without a doubt, LBB has shipped more than 84 million packages to local troops and produced more Girl Scout cookies than last year, said a spokesman for Ferrero, which makes Ferrero Rocher chocolate and hazelnut candies.
“Global supply chain issues, local labor shortages and even unforeseen severe weather have affected the sales season, but Little Brownie Bakers is on track to fill initial orders,” Ferrero told CNBC.
Meanwhile, Ferrero said “crews at our bakery have been working overtime” to ensure initial Girl Scout cookie orders are fulfilled.
For the remainder of the sales season, Thin Mints, Adventurefuls and S’mores are the only remaining cookie flavors available for purchase online from some Girl Scout troops in states like New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Alabama, Oregon and others. Orders that have already been placed will not be affected, and customers in affected areas can still purchase the other flavors in person at local Girl Scout cookie stands.
Ferrero, also known for brands like Nutella and Kinder Bueno, has been on a mission to grow over the last year. In November, it broke ground on a $214 million expansion at its Bloomington, Illinois manufacturing facility to produce Kinder Bueno chocolate in North America for the first time. The company said the Kinder Bueno project led to the creation of 200 new jobs in Bloomington.
In December, agreed to buy ice cream giant Wells Enterpriseswhich would expand its presence in North America.
These articles were published originally in English by Nicolas Vega and Rebecca Picciotto for our sister network CNBC.com. For more from CNBC enter here.
With hot chocolate and cookies it pays for school lunches.