Birthday Candles on a Birthday Cake
Caterpillar cakes are iconic. (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Chocolate caterpillar cakes are pretty beloved here in the UK for birthdays or as general sweet treats, but none more so than Marks & Spencer’s Colin. 

So it might shock many to hear that in a blind taste test of supermarket caterpillar cakes, the M&S icon didn’t come out on top —  and it wasn’t Aldi’s infamous rival version, Cuthbert, that took the crown either.

The consumer champions at Which? asked 75 people to try eight different supermarket caterpillar cakes, and it was Co-op’s Charlie the Caterpillar (£8 for 660g) that was victorious.

The cake received an impressive 72% score from consumers and has been given a Which? Best Buy recommendation as a result.

Co-op's Charlie the caterpillar cake
Charlie the Caterpillar Cake was the ‘best’ (Picture: Co-op)

It was selected as the winner by tasters for its ‘ultimate combination of rich chocolate flavour, moist sponge, and soft buttercream’.

Colin the Caterpillar (£8.50 for 625g) came in second place, with a 71% rating from consumers and also earned itself a Which? Best Buy recommendation.

Morrisons and Sainsbury’s tied for third place, both scoring 70% for Morris the Caterpillar Cake (£7.50 624g) and Wiggles the Caterpillar (£7.50 for 627g) respectively.

Morris wasn’t found to be quite as impressive as the other options, but consumers enjoyed the cake’s flavour overall. The texture of the buttercream was also praised, but just over half of tasters found the sponge ‘disappointing’ as it was ‘too dry’.

M&S Colin the caterpillar
Colin was close behind in second place (Picture: M&S)

Wiggles, was also found to be lacking ‘much-needed moistness’ and nearly a third of those testing thought the chocolate coating was too thin. 

Waitrose was in fourth place, scoring 69% for Cecil the Caterpillar (£8.50 for 720g), with Aldi and Tesco’s cakes tied in fifth place with 68%.

Cuthbert (£5.49 for 625g) was this year’s cheapest cake, but it was found to be ‘too dry’. However, tasters agreed that Aldi’s one was ‘not a bad choice’ for a budget birthday cake.

Morris the Caterpillar cake
Morris the Caterpillar came in third, tied with Wiggles from Sainsbury’s (Picture: Morrisons)

Tesco’s Slinky the Caterpillar (£7.50 for 615g) had a similar issue with dryness and one third of people also felt it ‘lacked buttercream’.

Asda’s Letty the Caterpillar Cake (£7.50 for 615g) came in last place with a score of 67%. Its chocolate flavour was deemed ‘too weak’ and many thought the sponge was ‘too dry’. Oh dear.

Natalie Hitchins, Which? head of home products and services, said: ‘For a lot of us, a caterpillar cake is a must for a birthday or celebration. Our test results show you don’t have to go out of your way to get the best, or splash too much cash.

The caterpillar cake taste test results:

  1. Charlie the Caterpillar Cake, Co-op, £8 for 660g
  2. Colin the Caterpillar Cake, M&S, £8.50 for 625g
  3. Morris the Caterpillar Cake, Morrisons, £7.50 for 624g AND Wiggles the Caterpillar Cake, Sainsbury’s, £7.50 for 627g
  4. Cecil the Caterpillar Cake, Waitrose, £8.50 for 720g
  5. Cuthbert the Caterpillar Cake, Aldi, £5.49 for 625g AND Slinky the Caterpillar Cake, Tesco, £7.50 for 648g
  6. Letty the Caterpillar Cake, Asda, £7.50 for 615g

‘Our panel rated Co-op as our highest scoring caterpillar cake overall. As well as being budget friendly, Co-op’s Charlie the Caterpillar had a rich chocolate flavour and plentiful amount of buttercream.

‘The scores across the board were quite close, so you can’t go too far wrong with a caterpillar cake, but if you want the best, we advise you to head to Co-op or M&S.’

This comes after Which? revealed the cheapest supermarket in the UK for a weekly shop in February 2024.

It was once again Aldi that reigned supreme, coming in hot after being the cheapest of the year in 2023. 

Have you tried Charlie the Caterpillar from Co-op? What are your thoughts?Comment Now

The analysis found that 72 items cost £125.43 on average across the month at Aldi, which was 30% than at Waitrose, the most expensive shop.

Fellow bargain retailer Lidl came in second place behind Aldi, costing just £2.67 more for the items, making it £128.19 on average.

The 72 groceries included branded and own-brand products, such as Dolmio pasta sauce, Heinz baked beans, as well as own-brand bread, milk, and butter.

The analysis included special offer prices but not multi-buys or two-tier loyalty prices, which are only available to loyalty scheme members and not everyone.  

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