Aldi at war with Marks & Spencer over Colin the Caterpillar cake

A major UK retailer is at war with rival supermarket Aldi over a caterpillar cake.

For those unaware who Colin the Caterpillar is (ie Aussies) – it’s a very distinct chocolate sponge cake that Brits have learned to love over the past 30 years.

Fancy supermarket chain Marks and Spencer (M&S) became the owners of Colin the Caterpillar in 1990 and went on to sell more than 15 million of the milk chocolate cakes.

But then Aldi came along with Cuthbert in 2019 – and M&S isn’t happy.

So much so, it launched legal action against Aldi UK over its copycat version.

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In a trademark infringement claim, lodged with the High Court this week, M&S claim Cuthbert is “riding on the coat-tails” of its reputation and leading customers to believe they’re of the same standard.

Both desserts are made with a chocolate sponge cake filled with chocolate buttercream – and also come with a white chocolate face – but M&S sells its cake for £7 ($A12), while Aldi has it for £5 ($A9).

Either way, M&S want the German retailer to stop selling the product or anything similar after lodging an intellectual property claim to “protect” Colin from being imitated.

The up-market British chain also offers a female version of the sweet treat known as Connie the Caterpillar which comes with pink sprinkles and a chocolate hair bow.

Other UK supermarket chains such as Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco also sell similar caterpillar cakes.

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But Aldi UK has found itself in the firing line for allegedly reaping all the rewards.

An M&S spokesperson said: “Because we know the M&S brand is special to our customers and they expect only the very best from us, love and care goes into every M&S product on our shelves.

“So we want to protect Colin, Connie and our reputation for freshness, quality, innovation and value.”

In an Instagram post, M&S shared a photo of Colin branding it the “original and best”, alongside a caption that read: “You might have seen @official_colinthecaterpillar is in the news … Colin won’t be commenting, but says thanks for your support.”

Of course, Aldi UK saw this as a great opportunity and fired back with a bunch of sassy responses, including puns about the upcoming legal challenge and a sketch of Cuthbert in court.

The social team also shared a lighthearted tweet playing on an M&S classic slogan by writing, “This is not just any court case, this is … #FreeCuthbert”.

“Cuthbert has been found GUILTY … of being delicious,” another tweet read.

“Cecil, Wiggles, Curly, Clyde. We got you. @Waitrose @Sainsburys @Tesco @Asda

#FreeCuthbert.”

Aldi UK’s social team didn’t give up there, with more ruthless tweets such as “Marks & Snitches more like. #FreeCuthbert” and “And they say Cats and Dogs don’t get along!”

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