Holle Stage 1 Organic Formula - Holle 1

What is Holle Stage 1?

Holle Stage 1 is a German organic infant formula for babies from birth to around 6 months, made from Demeter biodynamic skimmed milk with lactose and maltodextrin as its carbohydrates. This listing is one 400 g box, which makes about 91 fl oz of prepared formula — roughly eighteen 5 oz bottles.

Stage 1 is the box that built Holle's reputation. It is the brand's flagship organic baby formula, and it is both EU Organic and Demeter biodynamic certified — a stricter, whole-farm standard that no other brand in this catalogue holds. HiPP, Kendamil and Aptamil are all EU Organic only.

Being straight about the recipe: Holle's German Stage 1 uses maltodextrin alongside lactose as its carbohydrate, and its DHA comes from fish oil rather than algae. Maltodextrin is a mild-tasting carbohydrate made from starch. It is not an added sugar in the labelling sense, and it is standard across a lot of European formula, but it is not lactose either. Parents who compare ingredient panels will spot it, so we would rather you heard it here.

Where it sits in the feeding journey: Stage 1 covers birth to about 6 months and can be your baby's only milk or a top-up alongside breastfeeding. Holle PRE is the alternative for the same age band, in the same 400 g box, with organic lactose as its only carbohydrate. From about 6 months, when solids start, you move up to Holle Stage 2 in a 600 g box.

What is Holle Stage 1 made of?

Holle Stage 1 is built on Demeter biodynamic skimmed milk and a partially demineralised whey product, organic vegetable oils, maltodextrin and lactose as the carbohydrate blend, and DHA from fish oil — plus the vitamin and mineral premix EU law requires in every infant formula.

If lactose-only carbohydrate matters to you, the box you want from this same brand is Holle PRE. It is the same Demeter milk, the same 400 g box, the same birth-to-six-months age band, and organic lactose is its only carbohydrate. It also uses microalgae oil for DHA instead of fish oil. We would rather point you at the right box than sell you this one.

The vegetable oil blend contains palm oil, as it does in almost every European formula. Kendamil is the brand in our range that leaves it out.

Holle prints a full nutrition panel on the side of every box. We have not reproduced per-100ml figures in this description because we only publish numbers we have checked against a current box — read the panel on the box you receive, and get in touch if anything on it does not match what you expected.

What does Demeter biodynamic certification actually mean?

Demeter is a farming certificate that sits on top of EU Organic rather than replacing it. EU Organic mostly sets out what a farm may not use — no synthetic pesticides, no synthetic fertiliser, no GMO feed. Demeter adds rules about how the whole farm has to work: it must run as a closed cycle, growing its own fodder, composting its own manure back into its own soil, and keeping no more animals than that land can feed. Holle is the only brand in this catalogue that carries Demeter certification — HiPP, Kendamil and Aptamil are all EU Organic only.

In plain terms: an organic farm can buy in organic feed and organic fertiliser from somewhere else and still be organic. A Demeter biodynamic farm has to close that loop itself. The grass the cows eat is grown on the same land their manure is composted back into, and the size of the herd is capped by how much that land can actually support. Demeter also sets animal welfare conditions that go beyond the EU organic minimum.

Holle has been working this way for a long time. The company was founded in Switzerland in 1933, took the world's first Demeter processing contract in 1951, and moved its whole infant formula range onto full Demeter quality in 2009. The formula itself is manufactured in Germany. This is not a badge Holle added recently for marketing — it is the reason the company exists in the shape it does.

Both figures are schematic drawings of how the two farming systems are organised. They are illustrations of the standards, not photographs, maps or scale drawings of any particular farm. Demeter certifies the farm and the milk it produces; the vitamins, minerals and oils that EU law requires every infant formula to contain are added during manufacture, exactly as they are for every other brand.

What is not in Holle Stage 1?

No corn syrup, no added sugar beyond the lactose and maltodextrin carbohydrate blend, no soy, no gluten, no GMO ingredients and no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

• No corn syrup
• No added sugar
• Soy free
• Gluten free
• Non-GMO ingredients
• No artificial additives

Two things are in this box that some parents screen for, and we are not going to bury either: maltodextrin is used alongside lactose as a carbohydrate, and the DHA comes from fish oil, so this is not a vegetarian formula. The vegetable oil blend also contains palm oil. None of that is unusual for a European infant formula — but you should not have to find it out from the ingredient panel after the box arrives.

How does Holle Stage 1 compare to HiPP Stage 1 (German) and Kendamil Organic 1?

Holle Stage 1 is the only one of these three with a Demeter biodynamic certificate. It is also the only one of the three that uses maltodextrin. HiPP adds a GOS prebiotic and live cultures; Kendamil is whole-milk based, palm-oil free and uses algae DHA. The three boxes are also three different sizes.

Being straight with you: Holle Stage 1 loses several of these rows, and pretending otherwise would waste your time. Kendamil Organic Stage 1 is the better box on the label itself — whole milk rather than skimmed, no palm oil, no maltodextrin or starch, and DHA from algae rather than fish. HiPP Stage 1 is the better box if you want a live probiotic culture and a GOS prebiotic, which Holle does not add at any stage. We stock both. Holle's single genuine advantage here is Demeter: the milk comes from biodynamic farms held to a standard stricter than organic, and neither rival can claim it. One more thing before you compare prices — these are a 400 g box, a 600 g box and an 800 g tin. An 800 g Kendamil tin makes roughly twice what this 400 g box makes, so work in price per prepared ounce or the comparison is meaningless.

How many boxes of formula will my baby need per month?

One 400 g box of Holle Stage 1 makes about 91 fl oz of prepared formula — roughly eighteen 5 oz bottles. A newborn taking around 20 fl oz a day empties a box every four or five days, which is six to seven boxes a month. By three to four months, at roughly 30 fl oz a day, it is nine or ten. Averaged across birth to six months, budget for about eight boxes a month.

The arithmetic, so you can redo it for your own baby: boxes per month = (fl oz per day × 30) ÷ 91. A baby drinking 24 fl oz a day gets through 720 fl oz in a month, which is just under eight boxes.

The 400 g box is small by European standards and it catches people out on price. Holle's German line uses 400 g for PRE and Stage 1, then moves to 600 g from Stage 2. HiPP's German boxes are 600 g and Kendamil's tins are 800 g. Compare the price per prepared ounce, not the price on the shelf.

Estimates for a baby whose milk feeds all come from formula. Every baby feeds differently — use these for planning, not as a target.

How do you prepare Holle Stage 1?

Boil fresh water and let it cool to about 122°F (50°C), pour the measured water into a sterilised bottle first, then add one level scoop for every 1 fl oz (30 ml) of water, shake until no powder is left, cool to body temperature, test a drop on your wrist and feed within the hour.

Holle Stage 1: frequently asked questions

Related formulas at Bonpek Baby

• Holle PRE (German)Same Demeter milk and the same age band, but with organic lactose as the only carbohydrate.
• Holle Stage 2 (German)The follow-on box for 6 to 10 months, once solid food starts.
• HiPP Stage 1 (German)The 600 g rival, with a GOS prebiotic and live cultures Holle does not add.
• Kendamil Organic Stage 1Whole-milk based, palm-oil free and no maltodextrin — the stronger label, without Demeter.
• HiPP Comfort (German)A specialist formula for persistent colic or constipation, on a doctor's advice.
• All baby formulasBrowse every European formula we stock, by brand and stage.