Chaotic scenes have erupted at an M&S bakery as shoppers scrambled to get their hands on the supermarket’s newly launched viral chocolate cornflake cookies.
A crowd gathered around the bakery counter at the retailer’s Angel branch in Islington, London, waiting for fresh batches to be packaged.
As soon as the cookies became available, customers can be seen reaching across the counter and picking up multiple packets.
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The video, filmed by student Bery S., has attracted more than 642,000 views on TikTok.
Bery said the scenes on Thursday (5 Nov) reminded her of the panic buying witnessed during the Covid pandemic.
“It was honestly chaotic,” the 31-year-old told What’s The Jam.
“There was a crowd of people gathered around the bakery counter, all waiting for the freshly baked cookies to be baked and packaged.
“The staff were really overwhelmed, and I was asking them if they were okay.
“There was a young customer who came and asked the guy packaging them to slide him one on the side before he had even labelled them.
“He seemed really overwhelmed and said he couldn’t do that because it wasn’t allowed.
“There was another bakery worker at the front when people were grabbing the cookies who was really overwhelmed too.
“She was explaining how, since yesterday, it had been wild and people basically weren’t allowing them to do their job.
“As soon as the cookies were available, people started grabbing multiple packs, and it felt like everyone was in a rush – as if they contained gold or money.
“It reminded me of the panic buying during the pandemic.”
Bery said she deliberately remained away from the rush because she found it overwhelming.
She added: “Honestly, I was shocked and embarrassed.
“I purposely stood away from the crowd because I was so overstimulated by what I saw.
“I felt so sorry for the staff.”
Bery had visited the bakery around 45 minutes earlier, when there was no queue and the cookie display was empty.
After staff told her when the next batch would be ready, she continued shopping and returned later.
She said: “I managed to grab one that had been knocked over, which the bakery staff picked up and gave to me.
“But honestly, it was chaos.
“I’ll be honest, though – the cookie was delicious.”
One red-haired shopper appears to collect several packets in the footage.
However, Bery stressed that people who knew the woman had said in the comments that she was also collecting cookies for elderly shoppers and friends who could not reach the counter.
The 365g five-pack of Chocolate and Cornflake Cookies launched on Wednesday (4 Nov) as part of what M&S described as its biggest-ever bakery release.
Priced at £3.40, the chewy cookies are made using black treacle and contain caramel pieces, cornflakes and milk and dark chocolate.
Excitement had been building before their release after they were promoted on social media by M&S director of product development Kathryn Turner.
Turner, who has become an online star through videos showcasing the retailer’s latest products, described the cookies as “delicious” and said they were the developer’s “best yet”.
M&S has been approached for comment.
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