From Athens to Dubai: How Hans & Gretel Built a Global Candy Empire with IDM Dispensers

Case Study  ·  Candy Store  ·  Global Retail

A multi-country case study in how professional candy dispensing transforms a sweet concept into a world-class retail experience.

Since 2019, Hans & Gretel has grown from a single store in Greece into a multi-country candy destination, with locations spanning Corfu, Heraklion, Chania, Athens, and beyond, all the way to Sofia, Plovdiv, and Dubai. At the heart of every location stands a wall of IDM candy dispensers: hygienic, beautiful, and built to last.

About Hans & Gretel

Hans & Gretel is a premium candy concept store that has captured the imagination of shoppers across Europe and the Middle East. Known for its vibrant visual merchandising, extensive candy variety, and immersive in-store experience, Hans & Gretel has built a loyal following by treating confectionery retail as an art form. From tourist-heavy island destinations in Greece to high-footfall urban retail centres in Bulgaria and the luxury retail scene in Dubai, the brand has proven that candy, done right, is a universal language.

The Challenge: Candy at Scale Demands the Right Infrastructure

Scaling a candy store concept across multiple countries and store formats is not simply a matter of stocking more product. Each location presents unique architectural realities, varying ceiling heights, curved or angled walls, and different store footprints, while the product requirements remain consistent: candy must look beautiful, stay fresh, stay hygienic, and be easy for customers to serve themselves.

Hans & Gretel needed a partner who could deliver not just a dispenser, but a dispensing system, one that could flex to the architectural demands of each new store without compromising on the premium look and feel the brand is known for. The same challenge faces any high-volume food service or hospitality environment where presentation and hygiene are equally non-negotiable.

IDM's Solution: A Dispenser for Every Space

Over the course of the partnership, IDM deployed three key models across Hans & Gretel's locations, each selected to solve a specific spatial or design challenge. All models belong to IDM's professional candy dispenser range, engineered for high-traffic retail environments.

Model	Best For	Key Feature
H50L-SI-FF	Standard walls. The primary display unit used across most locations.	Large-capacity (5x9L), free-flow dispensing with bold visual impact and hygienic portion control.
H50-FF	Locations with height restrictions where the full H50L would not fit.	Compact footprint (5x4.5L) without sacrificing display quality or capacity.
H10-FF	Curved or angled walls, most notably in the Bulgaria expansion.	Designed to work with the angle of the wall, maintaining a seamless, professional finish on non-flat surfaces.

The ability to mix and match these models within a single store, and to adapt the display to curved architecture, gave Hans & Gretel's designers full creative freedom without ever compromising on the IDM standard of quality.

Locations: A Growing International Footprint

What began as a single Greek location in 2019 has expanded into a multi-country network of stores. Each deployment has been a collaboration between Hans & Gretel's retail vision and IDM's dispensing expertise.

The most recent chapter in this partnership was the Bulgaria expansion, the brand's first foray into Eastern Europe. The Sofia and Plovdiv stores presented a specific architectural challenge: curved walls. IDM's H10-FF dispenser was the answer, installed to follow the natural angle of the wall and deliver a clean, seamless finish that matched the store's premium aesthetic. The Bulgaria team was delighted with the result.

Why IDM? The Design-First Approach to Candy Retail

For a brand like Hans & Gretel, aesthetics are not an afterthought. They are the product. Customers come not just for the candy, but for the experience of browsing a beautifully curated wall of colour, texture, and variety. IDM's candy dispensers contribute directly to that experience:

• Visual impact: The full-height H50L-SI-FF walls create the unmistakable "rainbow wall" effect that has become synonymous with the Hans & Gretel brand identity.
• Hygiene and freshness: Free-flow dispensing means zero unnecessary handling, keeping candy fresher for longer in high-traffic environments.
• Flexibility: The ability to deploy different models across different store formats means IDM grows with the brand, from a compact island kiosk to a full flagship store.
• Durability: Built for daily commercial use, IDM dispensers are an investment that pays for itself across years of operation.

The Result: A Partnership Built on Trust and Growth

The Hans & Gretel and IDM partnership is a testament to what happens when a brand with bold retail ambitions meets a supplier with the product range and expertise to match. Since 2019, every new Hans & Gretel opening has included IDM dispensers as a core design element. Not a commodity purchase, but a deliberate brand choice.

When the Bulgaria team wrapped up their latest expansion, their feedback was clear: they were very happy. For IDM, that is the only metric that matters.

"The Bulgaria expansion presented us with curved walls, a challenge many dispenser suppliers simply cannot accommodate. IDM's H10-FF model was the perfect solution, working with the architecture rather than against it. The result was exactly the premium look our stores are known for."

Thinking About a Similar Setup for Your Store?

Whether you are opening your first candy store, expanding an existing concept to new locations, or looking to upgrade the dispensing experience in a food service or hospitality setting, IDM has the solution to match your space and your vision. Browse our complete candy dispenser range to compare models, or get in touch with our team. We are happy to recommend the right dispenser for your specific layout, just as we did for every Hans & Gretel store from Corfu to Dubai.