Guide biscuits are a well-loved piece of Kiwiana, and this year they're living up to their delicious reputation.
The biscuits have been baked by Griffin's Foods for more than 50 years. However, last year, a new oven at the factory resulted in appearance inconsistencies - and some difficulty with sales for
GirlGuiding New Zealand.
So a taskforce of five girls from GirlGuiding assembled in April 2010 to help ensure this year's batch is not just good, but the "best ever".
This taskforce has been involved all the way along the development journey - from the new cutter design through to packaging design, taste-testing, biscuit colour and texture, and finally the TV commercial in which they starred.
A raft of improvements has been made to the baking process, including swapping an artificial vanilla flavouring to a natural one. There has also been a change to the biscuit-cutter design, which represents the new, contemporary GirlGuiding NZ trefoil.
As a result of the earthquake in Christchurch, no biscuits will be sold in the city this year, potentially resulting in a huge loss in precious revenue.
To help the Christchurch girls get back on their feet, Guiding girls will be appealing for additional gold-coin donations when they sell their biscuits. Christchurch cartons of biscuits will then be given to food banks and people in need as a result of the earthquake's damage.
The biscuit comes in three varieties, from $3 a packet for originals to $3.50 for chocs and mini chocs.
Look out for guides selling biscuits this March, and be sure to buy some of what they believe are the "best ever" - so you can be the judge.
