For more than 60 years, Girl Guides across Australia have been selling their iconic biscuits to raise funds — but things are about to change.
Gone are the traditional boxes filled with rows of treats which could each be eaten in two or three bites; this year's campaign will feature individually wrapped 50 gram biscuits that have doubled in size.
Kathryn Pearson, Girl Guides Queensland State Commissioner, said the change came down to supply and demand.
"We didn't order enough of the original biscuits to carry on with [the traditional] campaign," Ms Pearson said.
"The demand isn't high enough for a company to make the style of biscuit that we always had and although it's a great fundraiser for us, unfortunately the cost to make those biscuits was too high so we had to come up with a new way.
"There is disappointment the old style of biscuit isn't going to be around this year, but I think the alternative of not having a biscuit at all would be worse."
Guiding goes virtual
Like most community organisations, Girl Guides has had to adapt to coronavirus restrictions and social distancing measures by replacing face-to-face guiding with online meetings.
Despite a return to clubhouses across Australia as restrictions ease, the bulk of fundraising will now be done in the virtual world.
"Traditional methods of fundraising like setting up stalls at community events is out the window at the moment," Ms Pearson said.
"But the great thing about fundraising online is once we resume face-to-face guiding, we can go back to the traditional way of selling biscuits while putting in more orders on an e-commerce platform."
Rockhampton resident Wendy Baxter has purchased Girl Guide biscuits for years.
While some families are looking forward to the bigger biscuit, Ms Baxter is a bit wary of it all being too much of a good thing.
"I love the Girl Guide cookies and they are family friendly, but I tend to shy away from oversized portions," Ms Baxter said.
"For anyone who has kids they know children don't always like to share, they like having their own cookie, so I would probably avoid a larger single portion cookie."
Ms Baxter said she would continue to support Girl Guides and she hoped the campaign would raise much-needed funds for the organisation.
