Girl Scout cookie sales crumbling in New Jersey and New York

💲Sales were down across the country during the most recent cookie-selling season

💲Profits go towards Girl Scout troop service projects and activities

💲The sales slump can be used as a teachable moments for scouts

Girl Scout cookie sales are a casualty of uncertainty in the economy, with sales taking a dip for the first time in several years.

Heather Coburn, CEO of Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore, says that while Thin Mints are still their best-selling cookie, fewer of them were sold during this year. It seems to be a trend not exclusive to New Jersey. The Girl Scouts of Greater New York told the New York Post that 1.1 million boxes were sold this season, the lowest sales since the 2013-14 selling season.

"It seems to be movement wide minus a few councils. We all saw, unfortunately, a decline in Girl Scout cookie sales this season," Coburn told New Jersey 101.5.

Coburn believes economics are behind the slump in sales. The Jersey Shore Council kept their prices flat per box from 2024 but prices went up in some councils. Inflation pressures elsewhere in family budgets also made for less disposable income.

Then there was an internet rumor that claimed Girl Scout cookies were not safe for consumption because of unsafe levels of glyphosate and heavy metals.

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A teachable moment

It's the scouts and their activities that suffer from the rumors and sluggish sales. Funds raised by cookie sales go towards their own individual and troop service projects as well as the "fun things" troops do.

"This is one of those teachable moments that you just have to plan differently and then also figure out what you were able to raise and how you can spend the money a little bit differently," Coburn said. "We have girls who still have inventory. So they're making plans to have 'lemonade' stands in their neighborhood and getting the cookies donated to other people."

Even with the obstacles encountered during this year's cookie season, Thin Mints remained the best seller.

"The Thin Mints and the Samoas or Caramel Delights, depending on which baker the Council is selling cookies with, are always the No. 1 and No. 2," Coburn said. "We do have a cookie that was retiring this year called the Toast-Yea. It was a French toast-inspired cookie that had some pretty nice sales."

Coburn said that the Jersey Shore Council appreciates their customers and that the organization goes beyond cookies.

"It's more than just a box of cookies and it's the life lessons that it's teaching the girls. You can't argue with a mission of building girls of courage, confidence and character that make the world a better place," Coburn said.

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