Getting Girl Scouts To Sell Gluten Free Cookies`

[suztodd]

Hi all, My little girls is joining girl scouts this year as a daisy. I would love for them to add a gluten free cookie to their large sales. I contacted them and they said there may not be enough of a market for them.

I figure the more people contact them the more likely they well consider adding gluten free cookies as an option.

Open Original Shared Link

that's there contact page. Hey I want the world to be as friendly as possible for my little girl.

Thanks,

Suzanne

[summerteeth]

Hi all, My little girls is joining girl scouts this year as a daisy. I would love for them to add a gluten free cookie to their large sales. I contacted them and they said there may not be enough of a market for them.

I figure the more people contact them the more likely they well consider adding gluten free cookies as an option.

Open Original Shared Link

that's there contact page. Hey I want the world to be as friendly as possible for my little girl.

Thanks,

Suzanne

I emailed them just now. I think it would be a really good idea for them to include a gluten free option. There are a lot of us out there, and I for one was a girl scout fifteen years ago (and the cookies were amazing). I remember last year having to say no to all of the little girls selling their cookies and it made me kind of sad (for them especially... but also for me... hehe )

[hannahp57]

I wrote them as well... I have a neice who may have celiac disease and then there are all these others kids that i hear about on here and that i have seen back in my hometown. i think if general mills pulled it off why cant Girl Scouts? i would love to be able to buy cookies from them again! the only thing i worry about is their being able to safely bake and manufacture them... but it is most certainly worth a shot!

[Mskedi]

I e-mailed them as well.

This makes me think back to when I was a Girl Scout. How awful would it be for a Girl Scout with Celiac to have to carry around all those boxes of cookies without ever being able to try one? That, and every meeting I remember, we had cookies or some other kind of gluten-y treat.

[momof2nc]

I emailed them and put it on my blog for lots more people to email them...along with attaching Suzanne's request. So Let's hope the more pressure...

[lovegrov]

Hate to be discouraging, but this is from the GSA website. Note that even when they tried a sugar free to appeal to diabetics and dieters, it didn't work. And there are a LOT more people with diabetes and on diets than with celiac.

Q: Why don't you offer cookies that are whole-wheat, wheat-free, non-dairy, dairy-free, vegan, sugar-free, gluten-free, organic, low-carbohydrate, low-calorie, low-fat, non-fat, fat-free, etc.?

A: The demand for specialty cookie formulations is simply not great enough to make it economically feasible to offer a variety of specialty types. Of all the different possible formulations, sugar-free seems to be the most popular, yet in the past, even the sugar-free Girl Scout cookies that have been offered have had to be discontinued due to lack of demand. Our baker's continue to experiment with formulations that balance the best tasting cookies using the healthiest ingredients.

richard

[Ruth]

My daughter has been a Girl Scout for 9 years now... we have often thought how great it would be to have a gluten-free Cookie to sell. I give you a lot of credit for starting this campaign. In the mean time.. your daughter may like to do what mine has done. We sell the cookies to friends and family that are not gluten-free and our family buys what we "normally" would, but instead of keeping them in the house we donate them to the local food pantry. We know some happy kids will be pulling GS Cookies out of their lunch box as a treat.. and some mom or dad who is struggling financially will get to bring home this (very expensive) treat!.

Best,

Ruth

[lovegrov]

I admit that my daughter was out of GSA before my diagnosis, but I was the cookie dad for three years and she was the girl who sold 500-600 boxes a year. My wife and son still get cookies every and I'm perfectly happy with that. I've got my own yummy treats.

richard

[Pattymom]

I'm a gluten free Leader ( cadettes and now daisies this year for my younger daughter) it seems unlikely they could sell enough to make it profitable. We did buy and donate soe to a battered women's shelter last year-and the food pantry idea is great too. I made a gluten-free carmel delight like cookie last year-I got plain shortbread glutino cookies--covered them with melted carmel mixed with toasted coconut-drizzled with melted choc. chips--yummy.

Our daisy troop is going to be gluten free, since my dd and I are gluten free and I think two other families in it also have at least one child with gluten issues. I think we will sell the cookies, but not serve them-I"ll have to work on my substitutes. All the other mom's were very positive when I asked for gluten free last week. My older troop had gluten free Thinking Day sleepover last year-didn't announce it, just did it and all the food was yummy ( myself and one gluten intolerant girl in that troop ( not my DD))

But alas, we do sell and not sample.

Patty

[stolly]

I submitted the following comment on the Girl Scouts' website yesterday and received the reply below today:

My comment:

Please consider making a gluten free Girl Scout cookie. As more celiacs

are diagnosed, and more people realize they are gluten intolerant, the

demand will only continue to increase. Gluten free is the fastest

growing sector of the food industry. General Mills is recognizing the

gluten free community by making dessert mixes and the line of Chex

cereals gluten free...please do the same as it is in great demand and

you will make lots and lots of little girls and their families happy to

feel included in an American tradition!

Reply:

Thank you for your message to Girl Scouts of the USA. We appreciate

your request for a gluten free cookie. We have asked our cookie

companies to look into this--it is a question of supply and demand,

complicated by the increasing cost of ingredients and sourcing.

At this point, we are not able to guarantee if/when we will have gluten

free offerings; however, we can assure you that we will continue to look

for ways to improve and better serve our members and the public.

Hope this information is helpful. Thanks again for contacting Girl

Scouts.

Rosa Esposito, Information Specialist

Girl Scouts of the USA

420 Fifth Ave.

New York, NY 10018

1-800-478-7248

"Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who

make the world a better place."

-

[Juliebove]

Hate to be discouraging, but this is from the GSA website. Note that even when they tried a sugar free to appeal to diabetics and dieters, it didn't work. And there are a LOT more people with diabetes and on diets than with celiac.

Q: Why don't you offer cookies that are whole-wheat, wheat-free, non-dairy, dairy-free, vegan, sugar-free, gluten-free, organic, low-carbohydrate, low-calorie, low-fat, non-fat, fat-free, etc.?

A: The demand for specialty cookie formulations is simply not great enough to make it economically feasible to offer a variety of specialty types. Of all the different possible formulations, sugar-free seems to be the most popular, yet in the past, even the sugar-free Girl Scout cookies that have been offered have had to be discontinued due to lack of demand. Our baker's continue to experiment with formulations that balance the best tasting cookies using the healthiest ingredients.

richard

The problem with that is that sugar is not the problem for diabetics, but carbs. Most sugar free things are just as high in carbs as the real thing. And most sugar free things contain sugar alcohols that have can have a laxative effect.

The people who put out sugar free things are hoping that our friends and family will be stupid enough not to know this and will buy such things. We diabetics generally just throw them in the trash. Diet drinks are generally the exception. They are not usually made with sugar alcohols and usually have no calories. Some have fewer calories than the regular drinks and some diabetics may choose to use them.

Sugar free products are not any better for dieters either, and in some cases the calorie count is even higher than the real thing.

The only real market for such products would be for those people who have some sort of sugar allergy. And while one can't exactly be allergic to sugar, one can be allergic to cane or beets or whatever the source of the sugar is. The problem with a prepared food is they can't always tell the source of the sugar. I would think not too many people really have to avoid sugar.

I can't eat Girl Scout cookies because of my allergies and really didn't like them too much when I didn't know of my allergies. I generally didn't buy them, but my husband bought some a few times. I did have a cookie here or there. They are no worse for diabetics than food like bread, rice or pasta. Yes, many diabetics avoid such foods like the plague, but there are plenty of us who find a way to work these foods into our diets in limited amounts.

As for gluten-free cookies, there are few that we can buy due to additional food allergies. So even if the scouts did sell them, it is likely we could not buy them.

What I would rather see is that they sell something else that is a healthy option. I do not believe cookies are healthy and it really bugged me when my daughter was in scouts that they had to sell cookies. My niece sold nuts some years back when she was in scouts. Might have been a limited thing. Yes, people with nut allergies wouldn't like that. But what about something like fruit snacks? I would buy those if they sold them.

[lovegrov]

Well, whomever the GS were targeting I seriously doubt it was people who are allergic to sugar. Probably dieters.

Point is, there's no chance at all the GS will be making a gluten-free cookie. It wouldn't be profitable and a box would probably run about $10. And I doubt you'll see them stop selling cookies. They make too much money.

richard

[Juliebove]

Well, whomever the GS were targeting I seriously doubt it was people who are allergic to sugar. Probably dieters.

Point is, there's no chance at all the GS will be making a gluten-free cookie. It wouldn't be profitable and a box would probably run about $10. And I doubt you'll see them stop selling cookies. They make too much money.

richard

Yes, but they could add something to their line that *is* gluten free. Fruit snacks are just one example. I know they sold nuts and/or a fruit and nut mix some years back on the east coast.

[Becci]

I emailed them... I really would like a Tagalong again

[kbtoyssni]

The Girl Scouts in my area are doing a nut sale this fall. Although you never know if the nuts are manufactured on the same equipment as wheat products since many nuts are. Plus many nuts are roasted in peanut oil which I can't eat.

There are three major manufacturers of GS cookies. Each one must make a thin mint and shortbread. Then they can make 6-8 other types of cookies. This is why the names of cookies and types offered vary in different areas of the country. If a gluten-free cookie would sell better than one of the other 6-8 flavors then they'd offer it. But I doubt it would be that big of a seller.

[lkp466]

Hi all, My little girls is joining girl scouts this year as a daisy. I would love for them to add a gluten free cookie to their large sales. I contacted them and they said there may not be enough of a market for them.

I figure the more people contact them the more likely they well consider adding gluten free cookies as an option.

Open Original Shared Link

that's there contact page. Hey I want the world to be as friendly as possible for my little girl.

Thanks,

Suzanne

[lkp466]

Hi--

I am a gluten free GS leader with 2 and perhaps 3 other celiacs in our troop. I just emailed the council too, to see if they will seriously consider adding a gluten-free cookie next spring. It seems to me that they could contract with someone like Pamela's who already has figured out how to make good gluten-free cookies. Also, I'm encouraged by the fact that our local GS camps now offer gluten free dining options--so they must have realized that this is an important health issue. Hopefully they will see that it's time to offer gluten-free cookies as well. (Can you imagine how many boxes of cookies we could sell, if the GS could just get them produced?)

--lp

[rysmom]

To Pattymom, you said you had a recipe for a glutenfree girlscout cookie recipe? Would you be willing to share? Our family is split in half with allergies, one of which has celiac. We love to buy girl scout cookies but I would especially love to make an alternative in the house for little one with celiac.

Thank you!

[GFLisa]

Hi, I haven't been on in awhile, but I just stumbled onto this post while looking for some information. My 5 year old is wanting to join Girl Scouts this year and immediately the cookie issue popped into my mind. I will be sending them an email asking them to consider it an option as well.

I think the problem with marketing a gluten-free cookie is that people who can eat gluten need to think it's normal and not some weird diet cookie. Unfortunately I know a lot of people who think being gluten-free is some weird fad diet, they just don't get it. There is a server at my local PF Chang's who once told me that people will refuse to try the chocolate dome because they usually think it's going to taste bad. On the flip side, you take something Chex, which people have eaten for years and make it gluten-free and it hasn't stopped others from eating it. I think if they had a cookie like a macaron, which is naturally gluten-free, they might do better with sales while at the same time helping us out.

I noticed someone was asking for a gluten-free GS Cookie recipe. I stumbled onto this blog/site last week for something completely unrelated to Celiac and found that the creator is gluten-free, as is her whole family. She has a daughter in GSs so she has created a few recipes. I haven't tried any yet, but I'm going to pick up the ingredients for theOpen Original Shared Link. Here is the Open Original Shared Link and the Open Original Shared Link.

[nmlove]

I wonder that it would even be a good seller. But that aside, if they did offer gluten-free, I doubt I would buy as I've never really bought in the past and would just stick with homemade treats for the kids. Also, the girl scouts in my area sell at the worst time, in my opinion - right after the New Year. Not towards the end of January when most New Year's dieters are slipping up but the first week of January! Bad marketing I always thought.

[lovegrov]

I'm afraid we don't have a prayer of getting a gluten-free Girl Scout cookie unless we come up with tens of millions more poeple demanding it. They couldn't even make a sugar-free cookie sell.

richard

[NewGFMom]

The trick is not to market like a gluten free cookie. They could have girscout meringues or chocolate covered macaroons, both of which are popular cookies and inherently gluten free. They'd just need somebody to manufacture it that used good practices, or did it in a gluten free facility. We've never had trouble with Trader Joe's Meringues that aren't produced in a gluten-free facility...

[VintageBoxers]

If the boyscouts can make a killing on POPCORN (which btw is NUMMY) Then i have to say, there are other options!

Would i like a gluten-free cookie option, VERY MUCH. They could even make it a separate program if they wanted, so it was an opt in or out type of thing. Or even just offer them online so they don't have to send them out to the girls, but the troop would have a card with a number on it, and you go online to order and enter that number to give that troop credit...

I sure would love a thin mint, or even a peanut butter cookie (name?)

S

[thleensd]

To the nay-sayers:

Even if GSA doesn't have the funds/ability/market for this, I'd say the more people that are educated, the better! Why not drop a line to company XYZ and tell them that we're here and we're looking for options! You never know what the tipping point will be. PF Changs has a great gluten-free menu and fantastic awareness (at least all of the ones I've been to) ... SOMEONE started that ball rolling. It's going to have to be us. Minorities (in our case - of dietary needs) are not heard if they are quiet.

*steps down from soap-box*