Marks and Spencer's Colin the Caterpillar cake has been a huge favourite among Brits, ever since it first went on sale - more than 30 years ago. To this day, many fans enjoy tucking into its chocolate buttercream filled sponge, milk chocolate shell and candy shell chocolate beans on its back.
However, with the cost of living crisis still causing prices of every day essentials and many other items Brits love to rise, forking out £8.50 at Marks and Spencer for the cake may not be within everyone's budget. However, one shop is now selling hundreds, if not thousands, of Colin the Caterpillar cakes for a fraction of the price.
News reporter Emma Gill at one of our sister publications, Manchester Evening News, headed to Park Cakes' outlet shop in Oldham, to bag herself the beloved cake for just £1.50. But as good as that might sound, she ended up coming away feeling rather queasy.
Explaining how the store works, she says all the sweet snacks the shop has to offer come from its neighbouring Park Cakes Factory, which is famous for baking products for the likes of M&S, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Aldi - and items that haven't quite made the grade.
Upon her arrival at the store, which is open to the general public, she says there is all sorts of products on sale - from mis-shaped caramel crispy millionaire bites to a large Colin cake in two halves. Better still, for those who have a sweet tooth, everything is available for cheap.
"We're talking three swiss rolls for £1," she added, "huge bags of flapjack, millionaire or cookie dough bites for £2. Victoria sponges and a four-pack of egg custards for 70p each and a bag of around 40 mini Colin sponge rolls for £2."
Emma says that although some of the faces on the Colin the Caterpillar cakes had "come loose", along with "some of the bits of shell and chocolate beans off their backs", they were all still good enough to eat. She took her goodies into the office with her, and her colleagues "didn't complain" when she turned up with the cakes.
However, it was when she started looking at her haul of treats - which cost a little more than £15 in total - that she began "feeling sick". She explained: "Sick at the thought of what this sort of thing costs at the supermarket compared with here, and sick at the sheer quantity I had picked up.
"Nobody needs 50 Colins do they, no matter what their size. It's a good job my office was close by to offload most of it rather than taking it all home.
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"Not that my kids would have complained, but given the fact we can't get an NHS dentist for toffee at the moment - that's another story - it's probably not the wisest idea."
Park Cakes Company Shop, Beehive Street, Oldham, OL8 2NB, is open to the public Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm, and on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm. It is closed on Sundays.
