For $4 a Box, You CAN Buy Happiness

Why do people love Girl Scout cookies so much?

Is it simply the taste—that delicious combination of peppermint and chocolate, or (if you prefer) caramel, coconut and chocolate? Or is it knowing you’re supporting a positive organization, one steeped in tradition?

Does it really matter?

Let’s face it—all you really want to know is how much they are and where and when you can get them.

Moorestown Girl Scouts will be selling cookies at the Moorestown Mall the next two weekends across from the mall’s customer service department. Come pick up your favorite cookies between 4 and 8 p.m. Friday, 12-8 p.m. Saturday or 12-6 p.m. Sunday.

The Girl Scouts will also be selling cookies from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. the weekend of Feb. 18 and 19 outside .

Cookies are $4 a box this year, up 50 cents from last year. But despite the price hike, sales are still going very strong, according to Colleen Wolfram, registrar for Moorestown Girl Scouts and co-leader for Cadette Troop 26174.

Girl Scouts tend to wrap up their sales by the end of February, but will continue to sell as long as they’ve got a supply, said Melissa Blake, marketing and brand manager for the Girl Scouts of Central & Southern New Jersey.

The troops get to keep between 22-32 percent of the proceeds from the sale of the cookies, which are used primarily to fund trips and activities—whatever they want, Blake said—for the entire troop.

“It’s really up to the girls,” she said. “They get to choose what they want to use the money for, which is really amazing.”

Wolfram said her troop is traveling to Washington, D.C., for a weekend in June, and the trip will be mostly funded by cookie sale revenue.

A few other interesting Girl Scout cookie facts:

• Much of the rest of the money is used to pay the cookie suppliers. Blake said there are two main bakeries that supply Girl Scout cookies nationwide: ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers. The Central/Southern New Jersey region gets cookies from ABC.
• The top five sellers are: Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, and Shortbreads (the original Girl Scout cookie). Though the Girl Scouts introduce a new cookie every year, those five never change, Blake said, “and people know to look for them.”
• The perennial bestseller, Thin Mints, has 160 calories and 8 grams of fat per serving size (four cookies). Runner-up Caramel deLites has 140 calories and 7 grams of fat for two cookies. (Two cookies? Are they kidding?)
• The Girl Scouts celebrate their 100th anniversary this year. Moorestown Girl Scouts have been around for 80 years, getting their start at the . There are 17 Girl Scout troops in Moorestown, with close to 400 girls participating.
• Having trouble finding a location to buy cookies? Visit the Girl Scouts of Central & Southern New Jersey website, click on the spinning Caramel deLite and type in your zip code to find a booth near you, or download the Girl Scout Cookie Locator onto your smartphone. No seriously. There’s an app for that.