I'M watching, near hypnotised, as a dizzying row of chocolate caterpillar cakes are carefully being brought to life, foot by foot and spot by spot, right in front of my eyes.
But this isn't any old cake, this is one of the nation's favourite confections - Marks & Spencer's Colin the Caterpillar Cake. I have been granted a special audience inside the official home of Colin, which is right here in Greater Manchester.
For the past 30-odd years, every single one of the millions of Colin cakes sold by M&S have been made at the Park Cakes factory in Oldham. A whopping 15 million Colins, to be precise, since 1990.
But it's not just chocolate caterpillars that are baked here on Ashton Road. More than 200 M&S products are crafted here by the workforce of some 1,800 people - another 140 are currently in development too.
The MEN was invited inside Park Cakes to see one of M&S's newest treats being created - the triple layered mousse cake - as well as to see Colin being made.
Bev Nolan has worked here for the past 38 years and she is one of our guides on our exclusive visit.
"Welcome to the home of Colin," she beams.
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