Girl Scout Cookies Profits
Cookie sale is operated by Each Girl Scout. Approximately 70% of the proceeds stay in the local Girl Scout council to support Girl Scouting in that area, including a portion that goes directly to the group selling the cookies. The profits are divided by a formula, with local troops receiving about 10-15% of the retail price, the council more than 50%, and the manufacturer the remainder. Girl Scouts sold 175 million boxes of cookies nationwide in 1992.
Events and activities for the Girl Scouts, maintenance of the councils' Girl Scout camps and other properties, cookie sale incentives, and Council administrative costs are paid by revenues at all levels. In 2008, 15-year-old Jennifer Sharpe from Dearborn, Michigan sold 17,328 boxes of cookies, a record for her troop and possibly an all-time record.
Large national commercial bakeries under license from Girl Scouts of the USA made Girl Scout cookies. The bakers licensed by the organization may change from year to year, though this is not common. In 2008 the licensed companies were Little Brownie Bakers (LBB), a subsidiary of Keebler, which is owned by Kellogg's, and ABC Bakers, a subsidiary of Interbake Foods LLC, which is owned by George Weston Limited. Since 1936, ABC Bakers has been licensed to produce Girl Scout cookies.