An Expanding Empire
Colin the Caterpillar is more than a cake. It is a British institution, the default centrepiece for office birthdays and children’s parties for over thirty years. What started as a simple chocolate roll cake has become a sprawling M&S sub-brand, extending far beyond the bakery aisle into a vast range of confectionery and even party supplies.
The core cake now has many companions. Alongside the classic and the Mini Colin the Caterpillar Cakes, there is an entire sweet shop’s worth of spin-offs. The range includes Colin the Caterpillar Softies, Speckles, Fruit Gums, Cola Gums, Cherry Gums, Sour Stomps, and Fruit Sours. The branding has also been applied to non-edible goods, such as Colin the Caterpillar Party Cups and Paper Plates, creating a complete party-in-a-box solution. It is a huge portfolio.
The Brand Crossover
A new mockup shared online suggests a logical next step: a major brand crossover. The design proposes a Smarties Colin the Caterpillar, swapping out the cake’s familiar multi-coloured chocolate beans for Nestlé’s iconic sugar-coated sweets. It’s a simple substitution. A familiar one to anyone who has ever decorated a homemade cake.
The packaging mockup retains the familiar green M&S Colin branding but incorporates the Smarties logo and its signature primary-colour palette. The caterpillar on the box is shown with Smarties on its back, clarifying the concept instantly. The original Colin already features a decorative flourish of chocolate sweets, so a partnership with a household name like Smarties seems like a straightforward and commercially savvy move for a special edition. It builds on an existing product feature, replacing a generic element with a branded one.
What the real range looks like
The genuine M&S Colin the Caterpillar range is extensive, covering the core cake, Mini Cakes, and a huge selection of sweets like Fruit Gums, Cola Gums, and Sour Stomps. A Smarties edition would represent a new direction, moving from flavour variations into a co-branded special edition with another major confectionery name.
- 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 Fruit Gums
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Party Cups
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Party Time
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Sour Stomps
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Cherry Gums
Frequently asked questions
- What is Colin the Caterpillar?
- Colin the Caterpillar is a chocolate sponge roll cake sold by Marks & Spencer. It is filled with chocolate buttercream, covered in a milk chocolate shell, and decorated with chocolate sweets and a white chocolate face.
- What other M&S Colin the Caterpillar products are there?
- The official range includes the main cake, mini cakes, and various bags of sweets like Colin the Caterpillar Softies, Fruit Gums, and Cola Gums. M&S also sells Colin-branded party supplies like paper plates.
- Is the Smarties Colin the Caterpillar cake real?
- No, this product is not real. This image is a Snackfish — a fictional food concept designed by the online creative page UK Snack Attack. It is not available in M&S or any other shops.
More like this
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- M&S Vimto Colin the Caterpillar Cake: A Fruity Crossover
- M&S and Bird’s Custard Doughnuts Appear in New Mockup
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