Last year, as some of the older friends of the blog know our little vegan, Anzia, opted out of the Girl Scout cookie sale because our area goes through Little Brownie Bakery, who does not offer a vegan option. Instead, thanks to Wayward Cafe, she did her own bake sale, splitting her profits with the Pigs Peace Sanctuary. You can read about the story here and about how it went here.

Her sales did so well, plus the girls in her troop liked the idea of supporting the animals, that this year the other girls have opted to get involved in the bake sale also. Wayward is willing to let us come again and use their space for our sale, but this year we will be there on two afternoons, February 16th and March 2nd. More information to come. This year we will be splitting our profits with a northwest animal organization.

Hubby tried going to our council to find out why they have opted not to have vegan cookies and this is their conversation:

• Girl Scouts of Western Washington Hi Phillip, we appreciate your feedback about these issues! We’d encourage you to share your thoughts directly with our bakery, Little Brownie Bakers, since hearing input straight from the consumer can make a big impact. You can call them toll-free at (800) 962-1718 or reach them through their website, www.littlebrowniebakers.com. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts!

  

  Little Brownie Bakers

  Little Brownie Bakers has been baking Girl Scout Cookies® for over 35 years. We …See More

  January 15 at 12:55pm · Like
• Phillip DeRobertis Thank you for taking the time to reply but with all due respect you failed to address the question.
  
  My understanding is the regional leadership council decides what cookies to sell, the baker doesn’t tell you what cookies they are willing to make. I called LBB (a division of Kelloggs) and a lovely woman named Christina confirmed that this is indeed the case, LBB does in fact do what GsofWW asks them. GSofWW places an order, LBB fills it.
  
  Little Brownie Bakers is the vendor, GSofWW is the client and in a proper business arrangement the vendor does as the client wishes, not the other way around as your reply suggests. This is not LBB decision to make, they are the vendor, GSofWW is the client. The power in this situation belongs to you the client, to suggest otherwise is…..well, disingenuous.
  
  Let me ask again, and please don’t try punting, why doesn’t the GSofWW leadership CHOOSE a single dairy free option for the cookie sale?

  January 15 at 1:40pm · Like · 1
• Michelle Lee Nicely done, Phillip.

  January 15 at 1:57pm · Like
• 

  • Girl Scouts of Western Washington Hi Philip, thanks for following up, and Michelle, thanks for joining the conversation. Our bakery, Little Brownie Bakers, doesn’t currently offer a vegan cookie option. Our council alone doesn’t dictate what the bakery produces, since we’re one of many councils across the country that work with Little Brownie Bakers. Part of why we directed you to the bakery is because hearing consumer feedback is part of what helps inform their business.
    
    Returning to your question about dairy-free cookies, this is something we’re just starting to see our customers demand. The same is true for a lot of special dietary needs, including requests for vegan cookies, gluten-free cookies, etc. With continued feedback from the community, especially from those with dietary restrictions or who have friends or family members with the same kinds of restrictions, we’re able to better gauge the interest and demand for these cookie types in our community. It’s with this input that we’re better able to make informed decisions about how we select our bakery partner, as well as the cookies our council will carry.
    
    Does that help better answer your question? If not, please let us know. We’d also be happy to connect you via phone or email with someone in the council, if you’d prefer to talk one on one. Thanks for challenging us on this- having this type of healthy dialogue can bring great ideas, hidden concerns and new understandings to the surface.

    January 16 at 10:45am · Like
• Phillip DeRobertis Thank you very much for taking the time to post a thorough explanation, all of which is fairly understandable.
  
  I would say as the first line customer you are totally within your rights to require your vendors to meet your product specifications & if…See More

If you happen to live in an area that uses ABC Bakery, you have four vegan cookie options, so please make sure to buy them so the Girl Scouts see the need. We will post more about our bake sale as we get closer to the date. If you could help spread the word we would appreciate it.

Last Years Samoa Cake