STATE COLLEGE, Pa. _ The box of Girl Scout Thin Mints you pick up this year will be slimmer than it used to be.
Girl Scouts shaved an ounce off the package size, which means fewer of the tasty treats in each box. The nonprofit isn’t the only group that is either raising prices or reducing package sizes in the face of rising food costs.
While some costs, such as energy and transportation, plummeted in 2008, the price of a bag of groceries continues to increase. Grocery store food prices rose 6.4 percent in 2008, despite a slight drop in December, as measured by the consumer price index.
The Girl Scouts opted to cut back on their cookies rather than raise the price. Chad Smith, communications manager of Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania, said the rising cost of supplies and raw materials, such as flour, prompted the change.
"A lot of other snack food companies are raising their prices or reducing their sizes," Smith said. "We're not alone, but unfortunately we had to do it."
A box of the Girl Scouts' most popular cookie, Thin Mints, will be 1 ounce lighter. Trefoils and Do-Si-Dos are losing three to four cookies per box. Samoas and Tagalongs have been slimmed down a half-ounce per package by reducing their size by about 1 millimeter.
The price on the $3.50 cookies hasn't changed, and Smith said consumers have been understanding about getting slightly fewer cookies while continuing to support the Girl Scouts' fundraiser.
Read the complete story at centredaily.com