Grubhub set to deliver Girl Scout cookies

Taking a cue from the battered restaurant industry during the coronavirus pandemic, the Girl Scouts of the USA announced last week that it would offer contactless delivery and pickup of their cookies through Grubhub.

It’s the first time that the Girl Scouts have collaborated with a national delivery service, the organization said.

For decades, cookie stands, stacked with boxes of Samoas, Thin Mints and Trefoils, have been ubiquitous outside supermarkets and in other high-traffic areas. So have direct sales pitches from parents of Girl Scouts to their colleagues at work.

But then the pandemic hit — drastically limiting direct contact. So the Girl Scouts got creative.

“We’re proud of the resourceful ways Girl Scouts are running their cookie businesses safely and using their earnings to make the world a better place,” Judith Batty, interim CEO of the Girl Scouts, said in a statement.

Cookie sales were underway last year when the pandemic was declared, which the organization said had prompted many Girl Scouts to adapt their strategies. Some created virtual cookie booths on social media, while others shipped orders or set up drive-thru pickup sites, the organization said.

The Girl Scouts said online ordering would begin Feb. 1, with Grubhub making deliveries in select markets. Additional markets will be introduced over the course of cookie-selling season, which typically runs from January through April.

The Girl Scouts said that Grubhub had agreed to waive all of the fees that it and competitors like Uber Eats and DoorDash typically charge to restaurants.

Members of the Girl Scouts will track and fulfill orders and manage inventory using Grubhub’s back-end technology, the organization said. To promote the partnership, the Girl Scouts said, Grubhub will offer free delivery on cookie orders of at least $15 through Feb. 14. Orders can be placed on the Grubhub website or its delivery app.