An M&S Institution
First launched in 1990, Colin the Caterpillar is more than just a cake. It’s the default centrepiece for British office birthdays, a stalwart of children’s parties, and a surprisingly durable cultural icon. For over thirty years, the simple chocolate sponge roll with its buttercream filling, solid chocolate face, and decorated back has remained a fixture in the M&S food hall.
The core design is almost unchanged. A milk chocolate shell covers the cake, which is decorated with sugar-coated chocolate beans, and the white chocolate face and feet complete the look. It is so fundamental to the UK’s shared food experience that any deviation from the formula, let alone a major brand collaboration, is significant news.
The Colin Universe
The Colin brand, however, has not stood still. M&S has expanded the caterpillar’s reach far beyond the original celebration cake. There are Mini Colin the Caterpillar Cakes for individual portions, and the core cake has spawned a vast confectionery line that now occupies its own section of the sweet aisle.
This range includes soft-filled bites called Colin the Caterpillar Softies, bags of Colin the Caterpillar Speckles, and a whole stable of gummy sweets. Shoppers can find Colin the Caterpillar Cola Gums, Fruit Gums, Cherry Gums, and multiple sour versions like Sourtastic, Sour Stomps, and Fruit Sours. There are even branded Party Cups and a Party Time mix. The caterpillar has become a sprawling sub-brand in his own right, making a flavour crossover seem almost inevitable.
A Plausible Combination
This is the landscape into which a potential Terry’s Chocolate Orange collaboration would arrive. The mockup places the familiar orange-and-blue branding of the classic chocolate orange onto the green M&S Colin box. The proposition is straightforward: the signature chocolate sponge roll, but with the distinct flavour of orange oil that defines a Terry’s product. It’s a pairing of two dominant British brands, one in cakes and the other in seasonal chocolate.
Combining milk chocolate with orange is one of the most established flavour profiles in UK confectionery. Rather than a radical experiment, this represents a logical, if ambitious, fusion of two household names. The question is less about the flavour itself and more about the execution. How would the buttercream and the outer chocolate shell carry the orange notes without overwhelming the familiar character of the cake?
What the real range looks like
The genuine M&S Colin the Caterpillar range is extensive, including the original cake, Mini Colin Cakes, Softies, Speckles, and a wide array of sweets such as Cola Gums, Fruit Gums, Sourtastic and Sour Stomps. A Terry’s Chocolate Orange edition would be the first major flavour crossover with another external confectionery brand to join this line-up.
- 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 original Colin the Caterpillar cake?
- 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 sugar-coated chocolate beans.
- Do M&S and Terry’s Chocolate Orange often collaborate on products?
- Brand crossovers are common in the food industry, but a collaboration between M&S’s signature cake brand and Terry’s Chocolate Orange has not happened before. This concept imagines what such a partnership might look like.
- Is the Terry’s Chocolate Orange Colin the Caterpillar cake real?
- No. This product is a Snackfish — a high-quality mockup of a fictional product created by the online design page UK Snack Attack. It is not a real M&S product and is not sold anywhere.
More like this
- A Nutella Filled Edition of Colin the Caterpillar?
- Concept Art: M&S Jam & Custard Swirl Doughnuts
- M&S Colin the Caterpillar Meets Cadbury Freddo Faces
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