M&S has built a real reputation for turning out unusual, buzzy snacks nobody knew they needed, from its Dippy Egg Cookie Cup to a Japanese inspired strawberry sando. Now the supermarket has added another item to that list: a Custard Cream Spread that shoppers are already going wild for online.
Priced at £2.50, the new spread is described by M&S as a sweet, smooth, vanilla flavoured spread studded with crunchy biscuit pieces, combining a mellow, custardy warmth with little bursts of biscuit crunch for a classic biscuits and cream feel. It’s the latest in a long line of playful product launches from the supermarket, which has continued to build a loyal following for its Food Hall innovations.
M&S isn’t actually the first to launch a custard cream spread.
Despite the buzz, this isn’t a brand new idea. Back in 2014, Tesco released a range of biscuit themed spreads, including cookies and cream, bourbon biscuit, and yes, a custard cream flavour of its own. Priced at £1.99 at the time, the spreads proved surprisingly divisive, with plenty of shoppers unsure what to make of the concept back then.
Even so, the Tesco version clearly left a lasting impression, since many shoppers reacted to M&S’s announcement by reminiscing about the original. Comments online ranged from jokes about waistlines being in trouble, to genuine surprise that it’s taken this long for the idea to resurface.
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It’s an interesting choice given M&S’s own history with copycat products.
It’s a fairly notable move from M&S, given the brand’s own track record of pushing back against other supermarkets copying its products. Back in 2021, M&S took Aldi to court over its Cuthbert the Caterpillar Cake, arguing it bore too close a resemblance to M&S’s own Colin the Caterpillar.
The dispute sparked plenty of light-hearted mockery from Aldi at the time, including social posts joking about Cuthbert being locked up in cake jail, and the hashtag FreeCuthbert briefly taking off online. The two brands eventually settled the dispute and moved on from the feud entirely.
Food trends have a habit of coming back around.
Regardless of who did it first, you have to remember that food trends tend to cycle back eventually. Frozen yoghurt is a good recent example, having largely disappeared from the spotlight sometime in the 2010s before making a strong comeback recently, with one Australian brand opening its first London store to queues stretching around the block.
@baptistetk M&S know what they doing #fyp ♬ original sound – BaptisteTK
Shoppers are already hyping up the new spread online.
New or not, that hasn’t stopped the Custard Cream Spread generating plenty of excitement since launching. On social media, reactions have ranged from calling it absolutely lethal, to joking that a spoon might be more appropriate than actually spreading it on anything at all. Whether you’re a fan of the original Tesco version or trying the concept for the first time, it looks like custard cream spread is officially having a moment all over again.
