There’s no question that COVID pandemic has drastically impacted global supply chains, causing shortages of everyday items, like kitchen appliances, lumber, chlorine, and even ketchup packets. But perhaps the most surprising disruption is the reported surplus of the wildly popular Girl Scout cookies, which are usually sold during the spring season.
The organization told the New York Times they’ve been left with 15 million boxes of unsold cookies due to the mandated lockdowns that spilled over into early 2021. They say the social distancing restrictions prevented members from conducting traditional in-person sales, prompting troops to pivot exclusively to online orders.
“Given that a majority of cookies are sold in person by girls at booths or other face-to-face methods, a decrease in sales was to be expected,” Kelly Parisi, a spokesperson for Girl Scouts, said via a statement. “It’s exceedingly rare to have significant excess inventory, but the pandemic greatly impacted our cookie program.”
Girl Scouts claim about 12 million boxes of the cookies—including classics like Thin Mints and Samoas—are collecting dust at the bakery warehouses in Kentucky and Indiana. Although the spokesperson didn’t say what the organization plans to do with the surplus, Parisi pointed out the Girl Scouts traditionally donated unsold boxes to the military or to emergency medical workers.
According to the Times, Girl Scouts usually sell about 200 million boxes a year at about $5 per unit. This year’s sales among Midwest troops were reportedly down about 6 percent from 2020. The organization has not announced how many total boxes were sold this year, as they typically calculate their profits sometime in June.
Another contributing factor to the cookie surplus is the decade-long decline of Girl Scouts membership—a problem that was exacerbated by the lockdowns, which not only prevented in-person troop meetings, but also made it difficult for current members to recruit their classmates.
“As states and local governments have opened back up, we’ve seen membership rebounding,” Parisi said.
