Shoppers are urging Marks & Spencer to bring back Tubby Toast, a Teletubbies-inspired treat from the 1990s that sold around 70,000 units in its first week.
The product, a round piece of toasted bread with a smiley face, was launched in January 1998 and quickly became a staple of children's breakfasts and birthday parties across the UK. It was made with croissant dough, with the face piped on using a flour-and-water paste – the same kind used to put a cross on top of hot cross buns.
How Tubby Toast was created
Kathryn Turner, now director of product development at M&S Food, was a bakery product developer at the time and helped create Tubby Toast. She claims the development of the treat helped to 'reinvent' the humble croissant, and it quickly became a 'phenomenon'.
'The toasting croissant was convenient, novel, and family-friendly,' she told Metro. 'It meant customers could have their morning croissant without switching on the oven. Using Teletubbies branding elevated Tubby Toast from product to phenomenon.'
Behind the scenes, things were 'far from simple'. Kathryn recalls the challenge of perfecting the rounded, Tubby face and ensuring the smiley design was consistent. M&S worked with Park Cakes in Oldham to overcome significant technical challenges when baking.
Shoppers demand a return
Kathryn has been reminiscing about Tubby Toast on TikTok, where she is taking Brits behind the scenes at M&S to show how new launches are made. The posts have prompted people to say it needs to be 'brought back ASAP'.
On TikTok, @Lulu_Electrical replied: 'I want Tubby Toast.' While Kennedy Transport Aberdeen shared: 'Pls bring back the Tubby Toast, thx.' Over on Reddit, u/sallarrieye proclaimed: 'I dream of the day I will be able to eat these again. My life will be complete.' Similarly, u/kiddo8919 shared: 'I really crave these still. So they were like flat croissants, they were lightly crisp on the outside, and buttery on the inside. They had a little smiley face – eyes and mouth – that was lighter than the rest of the pastry, [which] I personally remember as almost being ever so slightly cheesy?'
Others recalled Tubby Toast being 'delicious', said they had been 'enamoured' with it as kids and 'refused to eat anything else'.
Could Tubby Toast return?
Kathryn did not confirm a comeback, but she told Metro that the strategy at M&S is all about giving the people what they want. She added: 'Everything we create starts with our customers – how they want to eat, feel and celebrate summer. This range showcases the best of M&S Food today, combining decades of expertise with fresh thinking to bring innovation and joy to every table.'
'From Tubby Toast to today's 500-strong summer pipeline, the customer always sits at the heart of M&S Food product development, whether that's a 90s TV icon or today's appetite for nostalgic, joy-led food.'
