Supply Chain Issues Are Giving The Girl Scouts A Headache

For the first time ever, Girl Scouts are discouraging people from buying their cookies — at least, one cookie flavor in particular, the brand new Adventurefuls. The Washington Post reports that the caramel-brownie flavored cookie is the latest food product to be affected by supply chain issues, and that means they'll be in considerably short supply during this year's Girl Scout cookie season. Girl Scout troops located in the greater Washington, D.C. area are scrambling the most, shares NPR.

According to a notice published on the website for the Girl Scouts regional chapter of Suffolk County, Girl Scouts are being instructed "to immediately discontinue the selling of the Adventurefuls cookie on their in-person order cards." Scouts will still have the Adventurefuls purchase option on their individual digital sites, however, local delivery has already been cut off as of early January. Instead, folks who are interested in ordering Adventurefuls will have to place their orders online and wait for a later shipment from Little Brownie Bakers, one of the commercial producers of Girl Scout cookies.

Many are excited to try the newest cookie flavor, but The Washington Post reports that the high demand is only exacerbating the supply chain issues Girl Scouts are already facing. As a result, the Girl Scouts organization has decided to cap Adventurfuls sales at 7%. But depending on what part of the nation you live in, you might be able to score a box more easily.

As the Los Angeles Times explains, Girl Scout cookies are sourced from two commercial bakeries — Little Brownie Bakers and ABC Bakers, both of which distribute across the U.S. (This is also the reason for the discrepancy in names: ABC sells Caramel deLites, while Little Brownie Bakers sells Samoas; ABC Peanut Butter Patties, Little Brownie Bakers Tagalongs; and so on.) Fortunately for some, only Little Brownie Bakers is experiencing supply chain disruptions. Unfortunately, ABC Bakers isn't equipped to accommodate for Little Brownie Bakers' shortages. Girl Scouts CEO Lidia Soto-Harmon told The Post that though they entertained the idea of using ABC Bakers to pick up the slack, it just isn't viable within the timeframe. "We just don't have the bandwidth to come back to pick up one cookie," she added.

There's always next year to stock up on Adventurefuls, but in the meantime, there are plenty of other Girl Scout cookies to go around.