Toy World spoke to Georgios Fotopoulos, commercial director, and Savvas Mouratidis, CEO, at Greek toy company, Bildo.

Founded in 1989, Bildo has grown from a domestic manufacturer and supplier of building blocks to a globally distributed and highly respected maker of quality licensed toys spanning blocks, roleplay, dough and cosmetics.

Bildo is a family-owned toy business, one of very few in Greece. It all started back in 1989 when George Mouratidis, Savvas’ father, decided to take the bold step of starting his own toy company in partnership with his son. His first ever product was a bucket of building blocks.

The company credits its success to George. “He never quit or backed down because he loves what he does – he’s 75 years old now and still spends a lot of his time playing with Bildo toys,” they told us. “His passion for toys has never wavered, and that passion has filtered down and through to other members of the family too, who have joined him in the business and grown up with it.”

Bildo now has a presence all around the world and boasts some huge licensing collaborations with the likes of Mattel, Hasbro, MGA Entertainment, Disney and many more.

Italy was the first region to mark Bildo’s international expansion, followed by Spain, the Middle East, the UK, Mexico, Australia and so on. Bildo now has distribution in over 55 countries, and says its customers understand and appreciate the many reasons why buying from a Greek manufacturer makes business sense.

The company has existing relationships with major retailers across the globe, including those typically tricky to gain a foothold in, such as supermarkets and eCommerce specialists, from Lidl and Walmart to Argos, Tesco and Carrefour. In EMEA, its retailer network includes Smyths, Mothercare, ELC, Hamleys, Toys R Us, Maxi Toys, King Jouet and more. This year, the team is working on a pan-European deal with Amazon. Bildo considers the relationships with its retailers a major plus point for licensors, and says it is proud to be able to differentiate the company in this way.

“We’re here to listen and learn so we can be the best partner possible in this part of the world,” the team tells us. “Our roots are fundamental to that. We’re proud of who we are and what we do: an honest Greek company producing quality toys at great prices.”

To read more about Bildo’s exciting journey, read the full article, which appeared in the January edition of Toy World here.