A Squash Courtship
This image proposes a crossover between two brands that occupy very different supermarket aisles, but similar places in the national consciousness. On one side, the M&S Colin the Caterpillar cake, a fixture of British birthday parties for over three decades. On the other, Robinsons, the soft drink concentrate that’s been a cupboard staple for generations. The flavour suggested is Apple & Blackcurrant, one of Robinsons’ most recognisable variants.
The mockup uses the standard long box format for the Colin cake, but swaps the familiar green M&S branding for the purple and green associated with the Robinsons flavour. The cake itself appears to have a purple-tinted decoration, replacing the usual smartie-style sweets. It’s a simple visual switch, but it represents a significant departure from the chocolate-centric world Colin usually inhabits.
The Colin Empire
A fruit-flavoured Colin might seem unusual, but the character has long since expanded beyond his original chocolate sponge roll. M&S has developed the Colin brand into a sprawling franchise, making a flavour extension feel entirely plausible. The original cake is now just the flagship of a much larger fleet. It’s joined by boxes of Mini Colin the Caterpillar Cakes for smaller-scale celebrations.
The real expansion, however, is in confectionery. This isn’t just one bag of sweets; it’s a whole category. There are Colin the Caterpillar Softies, the fruit-flavoured chewy sweets, and the chocolate-based Speckles. The gums range is extensive, covering Colin the Caterpillar Cola Gums, Fruit Gums, and even Cherry Gums. For those who prefer sour sweets, M&S offers Sourtastic bags, Sour Stomps, and Fruit Sours. The branding has even moved beyond food entirely, appearing on Party Cups and inside the curated Party Time box. When a brand covers that many formats, a fruit-flavoured cake doesn’t feel like a stretch at all.
A Plausible Pairing
Brand crossovers are now a standard feature of the UK snack market, and M&S is no stranger to them, particularly with its Percy Pig line. The logic of this specific pairing is also quite sound. Robinsons flavours are already licensed for other product formats, most notably ice lollies, proving the brand is open to extending beyond the squash aisle.
The concept taps into a very specific kind of nostalgia. Both brands are multi-generational mainstays. While Colin is the younger of the two, having launched in 1990, he is firmly established as a cultural icon. Robinsons’ history goes back to the 1820s. Combining the definitive party cake with the definitive children’s party drink makes a kind of intuitive sense. It’s a fusion of two different, but complementary, cornerstones of the British childhood experience.
What the real range looks like
The original M&S Colin the Caterpillar Cake is the core product, but the brand now includes a huge range of confectionery like Softies, Cola Gums, Sourtastic sweets and Fruit Sours, not to mention Mini Colin Cakes. A new cake flavour would be an extension of the primary product line within this very broad franchise.
- 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
- Is M&S making a Robinsons Colin the Caterpillar?
- This is a concept image and not an official announcement from Marks & Spencer. While M&S often releases new versions of Colin, this specific crossover is not a confirmed product.
- What flavour is the original Colin the Caterpillar?
- The classic M&S Colin the Caterpillar is a chocolate sponge roll filled with chocolate buttercream, covered in a milk chocolate shell and decorated with sweets.
- Is the Robinsons Colin the Caterpillar cake real?
- No, it is a Snackfish — a mockup created by UK Snack Attack — and it is not sold anywhere.
More like this
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- M&S Colin the Caterpillar Gets a Lindt Lindor Makeover
- M&S Bakery Oreo Cookies & Cream Doughnuts Concept
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