Raspberry Rally Girl Scout cookies sell out within a day on Long Island
The new Raspberry Rally Girl Scout cookies have sold out. Credit: Girl Scouts of Nassau County
The new Raspberry Rally Girl Scout cookies, so popular that on Long Island they sold out within a day, are now being resold on eBay for far more than the original $5 per box — and have even made it into comedian Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonight Show” monologue.
The Raspberry Rally is Girl Scouts of the USA’s “sister cookie” to its much-loved Thin Mints. The raspberry-flavored cookie coated in chocolate is the same size and shape as the Thin Mint; the Thin Mint is a mint-flavored cookie also covered in chocolate. Buyers have been taste-testing the new flavor and posting their reviews on social media.
“By 11 a.m., our entire allotment from the baker was gone,” says Tammy Severino, president and CEO of the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County. “We had thousands of boxes; they were gone.”
Some buyers lucky enough to snag a box of the limited-edition cookie are even trying to make a buck by reselling them — one recent offer on eBay was $110 for one box, though many offers are in the $20 to $30 per box range. The frenzy caused Fallon to joke “This is a great way for Girl Scouts to earn their ‘Black Market’ badge.”
Shown on eBay.com, Raspberry Rally Girl Scout cookies are selling for prices far higher than the original $5 per box cost. Credit: eBay.com
EXTENDING GIRL SCOUT COOKIE SALES
The annual sale of Girl Scout cookies is a fundraiser that supports scouting activities throughout the year. The Raspberry Rally cookies, with about 32 cookies per box, went on sale just after midnight on Feb. 27, says Cassie Colgan, director of marketing and communications for the Girl Scouts of Nassau County. They are the first cookie to be sold online for direct shipment to customers.
Girl Scouts of the USA does not share specifics about the number of boxes available nationally, and the organization has no plans to produce more this season, a spokesperson for the organization said via email.
Will the cookie return next year? It’s not clear. Right now, the organization is trying to “capture learnings that will inform our strategy going into future seasons,” the spokesperson says.
Girl Scouts of Suffolk County has put together an additional marketing tools kit for the girls to help them interest potential buyers in other cookie choices if they are frustrated that they can't get the Raspberry Rally cookies, Severino says. And Suffolk has extended its cookie sales selling season for three weeks, to end May 8, she says.
'VERY DISAPPOINTED' SCOUTS
"We appreciate that so many Nassau County residents have supported our Girl Scouts," Colgan says of the rapid sellout. "It's humbling to hear how our community supports our girls."
The Scouts wish they had more of the Raspberry Rally cookies to peddle, says Jessica Pollard, leader of a 27-member multilevel troop of Daisies, Brownies and Scouts in Bay Shore/Brightwaters. The girls in her troop are "very disappointed" that the cookies are no longer available, because they wanted to pitch the new option to customers — and eat them themselves, she says. "Everyone asks for it at the booth sales, and they don't have it to offer them," Pollard says. Booth sales take place in front of supermarkets and other venues.
Pollard and the girls did have a chance to taste samples of Raspberry Rally at the beginning of cookie selling season.
“They taste like Fruity Pebbles; that’s what a few of my girls said,” says Pollard, referring to the breakfast cereal. “They crush them up and put them on ice cream.”
Pollard’s daughter, Jade, 6, is a fan. “It’s delicious,” Jade says.
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
