Welcome to the world's largest alternative investing newsletter! Join 90,000 others and see what you've been missing.
​Read full issue online​ Hi everyone, Welcome to the Alts Sunday Edition 👋 I hope you enjoyed last week’s issue on commercial real estate's right spots. In today's delicious issue, Brian Flaherty explores the economics of Girl Scout Cookies. Who are the bakers behind the operation? How much profit is made per box? Who's profiting? And how does the cookie money flow? Unlike Girl Scout Cookies (which cost up to $7/box now) this well-researched issue is free for everyone. ✅ Let's go 👇 This company took a private label viralIn this issue, we discuss how Walmart sells knockoff Girl Scout cookies through private-label brands. We recently looked at another private label product: The Sonic Power Scrubber. The viral cleaning product inspired tons of spinoffs, but not before the company behind it, Sonic Power, reaped millions. Sonic Power’s two flagship products have been a success. Now it’s time to create the next big thing.
A tradition of treatsThe Girl Scouts are an American icon. Since its inception in 1912, the organization has empowered millions of young women through courage, confidence, and character. ​50 million American women have passed through the organization’s ranks, including my sister, mom, grandma, and great-grandma. (I figured I’d disclose this conflict of interest early!) Over the years, the organization has branched away from its camping/hiking roots, and become more focused on economic empowerment and financial literacy. But nowhere is this focus more evident than in the Girl Scouts’ famous cookie business. What started as a small, home-grown way to raise funds for troops has ballooned into a gigantic sales operation, supported by a massive national marketing campaign.
This actually raises some awkward questions: Where does all this cookie money go? Is it ethical to depend on child and volunteer labor for such a massive sales operation? And how have they changed tactics in the digital age? We'll discuss these questions below. But first we need to discuss a subtle fact with some surprising consequences... Girl Scout Cookies aren't the same nationwideEvery American knows the classic flavors, right? Two of the most popular are Samoas and Tagalongs — err, that is, if you live in New York, Miami, or Dallas. But if you live in Houston, Orlando, or Philadelphia, you probably know these flavors as Caramel deLites or Peanut Butter Patties. And it’s not just the names of certain cookies that differ regionally — recipes do too. While Samoas and Caramel deLites are similar, they’re not identical. In fact, even consistent nationwide names like Thin Mint can hide subtle differences. There are actually two official Thin Mint recipes; one is more chocolatey, and the other is more minty. And there's no rhyme or reason to the geographic distribution of these flavors. Which cookie you end up with is kind random. There's an interesting reason for this... Girl Scout cookies are made by two different bakersTo really understand Girl Scout cookies, we need to start at the source: the companies that actually bake them. When the Girl Scouts began selling cookies as a fundraiser back in 1917, they were just regular, home-baked sugar cookies. As they grew, the Girl Scouts started licensing commercial bakers to produce them instead. By 1948, there were 29 officially licensed bakers. Over the years, though, the number of bakers has rapidly dwindled, largely to ensure uniform packaging & quality. In the 1960s there were still 14 bakers. By the 80s that had shrunk to four. Today, just two remain:
Both bakers offer Thin Mints, Trefoils, and Adventurefuls. But only ABC Bakers makes:
Little Brownie Bakers exclusively produces:
There are five players in this cookie racket:
Councils sit in the middle of the Girl Scout organizational hierarchy. But interestingly, councils choose which baker they want to use. Since councils independently choose which baker they want to work with, cookie selection varies like crazy — not just from state to state, but even within states. Considering that each baker offers a different collection of cookies, this is a pretty consequential decision! And it's not just a matter of going with the lowest price. The Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails opted to switch to ABC for 2024, largely due to ongoing supply and production issues at Little Brownie. Regardless of which baker councils choose, it’s the council who pays for all those cookies — not the national organization. Let's explore the financial relationship between councils and bakers and find out who’s making money off all these cookies. How the Cookie cash crumblesGirl Scout councils are at the center of it all. As discussed, councils buy the cookies from the bakers upfront. Troops and scouts make sales, but the money flows back up to the council. Girl Scout Councils make $4 - $5 per boxCouncils don’t report precise figures, so it's tough to figure out the exact unit production costs. But by cross-referencing some financial statements, we've come up with some good estimates.
Overall, we estimate that Girl scout cookies cost between $1.50 - $2.00 per box. At a sale price of $6 per box (in some areas, prices are now up to $7), Councils earn around $4 - $5 profit per box (or about 70% margins). What about the rest? Troops get their cut ($1.10 per box)Troops and individual scouts both participate in the cookie profits. But the extent to which they reap the rewards varies by council. Using the same financial statements above, we’d estimate troops retain an average of around 18%, or $1.10 per box. (This is roughly in line with breakdowns published by individual councils.) Scouts pick up the crumbs ($0.09 per box)While most of the revenue goes to the troop itself to pay for activities and experiences, a small amount goes to individual scouts in the form of rewards. By comparing published troop proceeds with our $1.10 estimate (along with extra per-box troop proceeds for older scouts who opt out of rewards) we can estimate that around $0.09 per box goes toward individual scout rewards. The rest of the money is sent back to the council itself. After accounting for production costs, council funds are used to pay for organizational expenses and valuable programming and experiences for the scouts. For their part, the national organization says that they don’t actually get any of the money from the cookie sales — it all stays local. While that’s technically accurate, there’s an important detail often left out of the conversation. While councils pay bakers to manufacture the cookies, the bakers pay Girl Scouts national a royalty fee for the right to use the Girl Scout logo and name on all the packages. In 2023, this royalty income amounted to $9.3 million; which makes up just 9.1% of Girl Scout National’s revenue. (The national organization earns $60m/year from membership dues and merchandise sales.) So it's a nice bonus for the national organization. But for the councils, cookie revenue is a essential to their financing. Who else is profiting?Obviously, the Girl Scout cookie program is a valuable fundraiser that helps secure the money needed for councils and troops to pay for activities throughout the year. Plus, it’s a great way for young women to learn business and entrepreneurial skills. But it's always fascinating to follow the money and understand the breakdown. The big bakersABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers are the most obvious profiteers from the Girl Scout cookie program. Even after accounting for royalty costs, the scale of Girl Scout cookie contracts is massive. 200 million boxes are sold each year. If our $1.40 baker estimate per box is accurate, that’d amount to $280 million in annual revenue between the two bakers. Not bad at all. Council/national executivesWhen it comes to the beneficiaries of the cookie program, one party is surprisingly overlooked — the often well-paid council employees dotting the country (along with the national execs). Now, cookies are just one component of the revenue stream that supports these employees. But it’s a major one for the councils. We've looked through tax filings to find out how many employees earn at least $100,000/year for some of the orgs we mentioned above: To be clear, we're not saying these employees aren’t earning their money. Managing these organizations is hard work, and all of this contributes to valuable skill development for scouts! This isn't a matter of exploitation. Scouts love selling cookies, and parents are happy to volunteer to help. But it does perhaps seem just a bit crazy that scouts' only direct compensation from all this is a few very, very cheap rewards. The open secret about Girl Scout CookiesClearly selling Girl Scout cookies at a 200% markup is lucrative. Given these economics, you might think the Girl Scouts have some super-secret, patented recipe that only they know. But this isn’t the case at all. Girl Scout cookie knock-offs are incredibly similarBoth Walmart and Dollar General carry “Fudge-covered peanut butter cookies” that look curiously like Tagalongs. Judging by reviews, they taste identical too... What’s more, they’re both priced at just over $2 a box – a third the cost of the Girl Scout version. Similarly, Keebler Grasshopper and Coconut Dream cookies have long been known as Thin Mint and Samoa alternatives, respectively: But hang on a minute — Keebler is a subsidiary of the Ferrero Group, the same company that owns Little Brownie Bakers! Now, we're not saying these cookie variants are necessarily coming from the same exact factories as Girl Scout cookies. But c'mon. These "knock-offs" are so incredibly similar that the term feels almost...inadequate. Real scarcity vs manufactured scarcityObviously, people aren’t just buying Girl Scout cookies for the cookies – it’s also about supporting the organization and its mission. But the fact that the Girl Scouts are so successful at selling their cookies despite lower-priced and near-identical competitors being available year-round is a testament to the power of scarcity marketing. It's like the McRib or Pumpkin Spice Latte. Part of the appeal of Girl Scout cookies is precisely that they’re not available all the time. In fact, this is a tactic the Girl Scouts seem to be leaning into even more, pulling the fan-favorite Raspberry Rally flavor this year after a hugely successful roll-out in 2023. So with cookie season wrapping up soon, go stock up on your favorite flavors. Because who knows if they’ll be around next year. (But if they aren't, just check Walmart or Dollar General) See you next time, Disclosures
|
by Stefan von Imhof and Wyatt Cavalier
Welcome to the world's largest alternative investing newsletter! Join 90,000 others and see what you've been missing.
Read online Welcome to the Alts Sunday Edition đź‘‹ I hope you enjoyed last week's issue on vending machines. After publishing, reader Antares V shared her story of starting a vending biz in Agora Hills, CA. She noted some interesting stuff happening with self-checkout and "micro markets." Another point she made (which I hadn't considered) was that America's lower walkability could help its vending market. Why? Because suburban office workers want convenient lunch options that don't require 20...
Read online Welcome to the Alts Sunday Edition đź‘‹ I hope you enjoyed last week's issue on water fountain economics. Today, we have a guest post from Alts community member MoneyLemma. MoneyLemma is a hedge fund analyst who delves into random and unanswered questions in modern finance, such as: Why is the TI-83 calculator still a thing? and Did 17th-century Caribbean pirates earn more than today's NFL players? In this issue we're looking at vending machines. For years, influencers have been...
Read full issue online 'Kia ora!' Welcome to the Alts Sunday Edition. Hope you enjoyed last week's issue on home equity investing. I'm writing this issue from Queenstown — a small, stunning town on New Zealand's South Island. 🏔️ I'm here to hike The Remarkables, and meet with the owners of the National Rugby League's newest team. (More on that in a moment) Today's issue is on the economics of stadiums — specifically stadium financing. Earlier this week, voters in Kansas City rejected a plan...