Holle Bio Stage 2 Organic Follow‑On Baby Formula 600g (6–10 Months) - Holle 2

What is Holle Stage 2?

Holle Stage 2 is a German organic follow-on formula for babies aged 6 to 10 months, made from Demeter biodynamic skimmed milk, with extra iron for a baby moving onto solid food. This listing is one 600 g box, which makes about 130 fl oz of prepared formula — roughly twenty-six 5 oz bottles.

It carries the same certification as the rest of Holle's German line: EU Organic and Demeter biodynamic. Demeter is a stricter, whole-farm standard layered on top of organic, and Holle is the only brand in this catalogue that holds it. It is the reason most parents choose this box over a cheaper EU-Organic-only follow-on.

The change from Stage 1 is nutritional, not cosmetic. A baby of six months has run down the iron stores they were born with, so a follow-on formula carries more iron than a first infant formula. The carbohydrate blend also changes: Stage 2 adds starch to the maltodextrin and lactose, which makes the bottle slightly thicker and more filling. That is standard practice across European follow-on milks, not a Holle quirk — but you will see it on the panel, so we are saying it up front.

Where it sits in the feeding journey: Stage 2 follows Holle Stage 1 or Holle PRE at around 6 months, once solid food is being introduced. It is a complement to meals, not a replacement for them. From about 10 months you move up to Holle Stage 3, also a 600 g box.

What is Holle Stage 2 made of?

Holle Stage 2 is built on Demeter biodynamic skimmed milk and a whey product, organic vegetable oils, a carbohydrate blend of maltodextrin, starch and lactose, and DHA from fish oil — plus an adjusted vitamin and mineral premix carrying more iron than the Stage 1 box.

If you want Demeter milk at this stage but would rather the DHA came from algae than from fish, the box to look at is Holle's Dutch Stage 2, which uses microalgae oil instead. It is the same brand and the same Demeter certificate in an 800 g tin. We stock it, and we would rather send you there than have you find out from the panel.

The vegetable oil blend contains palm oil, as it does in almost every European follow-on formula.

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 2?

No soy, no gluten, no GMO ingredients and no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. It is made in Germany to EU baby food regulation, from milk produced on Demeter-certified biodynamic farms.

• Soy free
• Gluten free
• Non-GMO ingredients
• No artificial colours or flavours
• No artificial preservatives

Being straight about what is in the box: Stage 2 adds maltodextrin and starch to the carbohydrate blend, the vegetable oil blend contains palm oil, and the DHA comes from fish oil, so this is not a vegetarian formula. All three are normal for a European follow-on formula at this age. None of them should be something you discover after the box arrives.

How does Holle Stage 2 compare to HiPP Stage 2 (German) and Holle Stage 2 (Dutch)?

All three are follow-on formulas from 6 months with starch in the carbohydrate blend. Holle's two boxes carry Demeter certification and HiPP's does not. HiPP is the only one of the three with a live probiotic culture and a GOS prebiotic. The Dutch Holle tin is the only one of the three using algae DHA rather than fish oil.

Being straight with you: two of these boxes beat this one on a row that might matter to you. HiPP Stage 2 is the only one of the three with a live probiotic culture and a GOS prebiotic — Holle adds neither, at any stage, in any line. And Holle's own Dutch Stage 2 carries exactly the same Demeter certificate while sourcing its DHA from microalgae rather than fish oil, so if fish-free DHA is your priority, buy that one instead of this one. On price: this box and the HiPP box are both 600 g, so their shelf prices compare directly. The Dutch tin is 800 g and makes roughly half as much again as this box, so compare it on price per prepared ounce or you will read it wrong. What this box has over the HiPP is Demeter, and what it has over the Dutch tin is nothing except the smaller, cheaper pack.

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

One 600 g box of Holle Stage 2 makes about 130 fl oz of prepared formula — roughly twenty-six 5 oz bottles. Most babies between 6 and 10 months take around 15 fl oz of formula a day alongside their meals, which works out at about three and a half boxes a month. A baby just starting solids and still drinking around 20 fl oz a day will use closer to four and a half or five.

The arithmetic, so you can redo it for your own baby: boxes per month = (fl oz per day × 30) ÷ 130. A baby on 18 fl oz a day drinks 540 fl oz in a month, which is a little over four boxes.

This is the stage where the number stops being predictable. Two babies the same age eating different amounts of solid food can be a whole box a month apart, and the figure drops steadily as meals replace milk feeds. Treat it as a budgeting range rather than a target.

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 2?

Boil fresh water and let it cool to about 122°F (50°C), pour the measured water into a sterilised bottle first, then add the number of level scoops the feeding chart on your box gives for that amount 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 2: frequently asked questions

Related formulas at Bonpek Baby

• Holle Stage 3 (German)The next box up, for 10 to 12 months, with the same Demeter milk.
• Holle Stage 1 (German)The first infant formula that comes before this one, for birth to 6 months.
• HiPP Stage 2 (German)The same-size 600 g rival, with a GOS prebiotic and live cultures Holle does not add.
• Holle Stage 2 (Dutch)Same brand, same Demeter certificate, 800 g tin — and DHA from algae rather than fish oil.
• HiPP Stage 2 No-StarchThe follow-on option in our range for parents who would rather avoid starch.
• All baby formulasBrowse every European formula we stock, by brand and stage.