Shoppers were in uproar after a taste test ruled that the Co-Op’s budget Charlie cake was better than Marks and Spencer’s Colin the Caterpillar.
But readers disagree with hundreds coming out in support of the original version in our exclusive poll today.
More than 1110 of you voted in the first seven hours of the poll with Colin easily claiming top spot with 786 votes (66 per cent).
Aldi’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar ranked second with 170 votes (14 per cent) and the Co-Op’s Charlie was third with 99 votes (eight per cent).
Cecil the Caterpillar by Waitrose scored 30 votes (three per cent) with Tesco’s Slinky the Caterpillar and Sainsbury’s Wiggles the Caterpillar tied on 29 votes (two per cent).
Shoppers were in uproar after a taste test ruled that the Co-Op’s budget Charlie cake was better than Marks and Spencer ‘s Colin the Caterpillar (pictured)
A blind taste test of caterpillar cakes from eight supermarkets found Co-op’s Charlie (pictured) to be the finest
The results of the poll today
The bottom two caterpillar cakes were Asda’s Letty the Caterpillar on 21 votes ( two per cent) and Morrison’s Morris the Caterpillar on 19 (two per cent).
Customers had already disputed the findings of the study by Which? that argued a copycaterpillar called Charlie tastes better than the popular Colin product.
They said the ‘horrid’ £8 Co-op ‘Charlie the Caterpillar’ cake, which weighs 660g, doesn’t even have a chocolate face.
One said on X: ‘The best bit of a Colin the Caterpillar cake is the face, and you can now buy them in the sweetie section so all was well when I let a five-year-old influence my cake choice for a quiet life.’
Another said: ‘Colin has an adorable chocolate face which makes him stand out and I love it. Charlie’s face does look a bit creepy to be honest.’
A third person said: ‘Kids don’t really care but who wants to eat that horrid thin yellow face when the original has chunky chocolate.’
Analysis by consumer watchdog Which? found that while Marks & Spencer came up with the insect idea, it cannot claim to have the best combination of chocolate, sponge and buttercream.
The watchdog’s blind taste test of caterpillar cakes from eight supermarkets found Co-op’s Charlie to be the finest, awarding it a 72 percent score and a coveted ‘Best Buy’ recommendation.
Which? said the cake ‘wowed tasters’ with its ‘ultimate combination of rich chocolate flavour, moist sponge and soft buttercream’.
Coming in a close second was M&S’s Colin at £8.50 for 625g, achieving a 71 percent and a ‘Best Buy’ recommendation, beating most of its rivals with its ‘superior sponge and delicious chocolatey flavour’.
M&S took Aldi to court for what became a long-running legal dispute in which the former accused the discounter of copying Colin with its ‘Cuthbert’ product (pictured)
The bottom two caterpillar cakes were Asda ‘s Letty the Caterpillar (pictured) on 21 votes ( two per cent) and Morrison’s Morris the Caterpillar on 19 (two per cent)
Waitrose’s Cecil the Caterpillar
Wiggles the Caterpillar by Sainsbury’s
Morris the Caterpillar by Morrisons
However the result will be a bitter blow for M&S, whose Colin cake has been widely copied by rival grocers.
M&S took Aldi to court for what became a long-running legal dispute in which the former accused the discounter of copying Colin with its ‘Cuthbert’ product.
An undisclosed settlement eventually reached by the two grocers did not deter Aldi from going on to release an ad in which it announced it was ‘like M&S, only cheaper’, and showing rival caterpillar cakes Cuthbert and Colin breaking into a scuffle at a party.
Which? head of home products and services Natalie Hitchins 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.
‘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.’
Nicole Tallant, from Co-op, said: ‘We’re thrilled that Which? has settled the big caterpillar cake debate and named Co-op as being the best tasting on the high street for the second time.’