Two Pantry Giants
A new design doing the rounds online suggests a major brand crossover, pairing two titans of the British cupboard: M&S’s Colin the Caterpillar and Ambrosia’s Devon Custard. The concept places the familiar chocolate-covered sponge roll in packaging that borrows its colour scheme directly from the Ambrosia tin, with its distinctive red banner and creamy yellow background.
Brand collaborations are nothing new, but they usually happen between confectionary and another category like ice cream or biscuits. This one is different. It merges a finished, iconic cake with a core dessert ingredient. The caption that accompanies the image asks, “Could this be the best Colin ever?”, which is a bold claim for a character who has been the centrepiece of British birthday parties for over three decades.
The Colin Range
Colin the Caterpillar has long since outgrown his original cake format. The character now fronts a vast range of M&S products, demonstrating how far a single successful line can be extended. The core offering is still the classic chocolate log cake and its smaller variant, the Mini Colin the Caterpillar Cakes. But beyond that, the brand has diversified almost entirely into sugar confectionary, becoming a dominant force in the M&S sweets aisle.
The current lineup includes multiple bags of gums and jellies. There are Colin the Caterpillar Softies, Fruit Gums, Cola Gums, and Cherry Gums. For those who prefer a sharper taste, there are Sourtastic sweets, Fruit Sours, and Sour Stomps. Alongside these are bags of chocolate Speckles and even branded Party Cups and Party Time kits for birthdays. A custard-flavoured cake would be a departure from this sweets-focused expansion, taking the brand back to its bakery origins but with a new flavour profile.
The Custard Component
Ambrosia’s involvement would be a significant move. The brand, part of the Premier Foods group, is synonymous with one thing: tinned and potted custard. While they also produce rice pudding, their identity is built on the classic Devon Custard that has been a staple for generations. Its branding is instantly recognisable and carries a strong association with traditional, comforting desserts.
The mockup shows Colin’s familiar white chocolate face and feet, but hints that the sponge or buttercream inside could carry that distinctive vanilla flavour. Merging the novelty and celebratory nature of Colin with the heritage of Ambrosia is a simple, powerful concept. It combines two different kinds of nostalgia into a single product.
What the real range looks like
The genuine M&S Colin the Caterpillar range is extensive, though mostly focused on sweets. It includes the original Cake, Mini Cakes, Softies, Speckles, Cola Gums, Sourtastic sweets, Fruit Gums, Party Cups, Party Time kits, Sour Stomps, Cherry Gums and Fruit Sours. A custard-flavoured cake would represent a new direction, moving away from confectionary and back towards innovating on the core cake product.
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Cake
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Softies
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Speckles
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Cola Gums
- M S Mini Colin the Caterpillar Cakes
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Sourtastic
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Fruit Gums
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Party Cups
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Party Time
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Sour Stomps
Frequently asked questions
- What flavour is the new Colin the Caterpillar cake?
- The product seen in the concept image is an Ambrosia Devon Custard version of the classic M&S cake. It proposes a flavour crossover between the two well-known British brands.
- What is Colin the Caterpillar?
- Colin the Caterpillar is a famous chocolate sponge roll cake sold by Marks & Spencer since 1990. The brand has since expanded to include a huge range of sweets, jellies, and partyware.
- Is the Ambrosia Custard Colin the Caterpillar a real product?
- No, this product is not real. It is a Snackfish — a mockup created by the online design page UK Snack Attack — and is not for sale anywhere.
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You have been Snackfished!
Snackfish :
[sn-a-ck-fish] verb
A snack that lies about its legitimacy as an official product online for internet clout and attention. Most commonly fabricated in Adobe Photoshop or using the unofficial Snackfish AI