Long-term and reliable partnerships based on honesty and ethical, sustainable procurement of raw materials result in respectful supply chains. This, in turn, guarantees the quality of our products and is an important factor in ensuring the future viability of our business.
Honest business and a respectful supply chain: this is only possible through reliable, long-term partnerships with suppliers and production partners. In relation to this, the most important cornerstones for us are: transparency, dialogue as equals, fair pricing, respect and mutual commitment to trustful collaboration.
Recipes that are as pure as possible, raw ingredients from organic farms with whom we maintain long-term partnerships, as well as protecting the soil, animals and the environment. This is how we guarantee organic quality at the highest level.
Our high-quality organic food for babies and infants requires constant, crisis-proof collaboration with our partners. This is why we opt for strong partners who produce organic and biodynamic products and cooperate with farming associations.
However, both we and our customers want to know where the raw ingredients come from. Intense dialogue with our partners creates this trustful transparency. This means we can precisely track our ingredients back to their origins and thus ensure the highest quality. For us, building reliable partnerships with fair pricing is more important than maximising profits. This is why we agree on binding purchase volumes and prices with our partners every year.
Selecting and maintaining close relationships with cultivation and production partners is one of the main challenges. Although we use the certification of such farms in accordance with the EU organic, Bioland and Demeter seals as guidance, we also attach great importance to sustainable issues that go beyond such certification. Our supplier management makes it easier for us to select suitable partners and helps us to check them against sustainability criteria that are important to us.
Sustainability can only be achieved through continuous improvement and professionalisation on economic, ecological and social levels. Reaching the highest possible standards together – this is of paramount importance to both Holle and our partners.
Holle quality is created through true teamwork – our products are the result of many years of close partnerships, the sum of intensive exchange and dialogue and trust that has grown over the course of many years.’
Sustainability throughout the entire supply chain
We see sustainability as a way of life. This is why we constantly exchange ideas with our partners on how we can work together to make sustainable improvements throughout the value chain, save CO2, reduce packaging material, optimise energy concepts and act in a more climate-friendly manner in everything we do.
What is behind our supply chain management?
Wherever possible, we not only choose regional raw ingredients, but also work with our suppliers to ensure environmental, social and employment standards throughout the entire supply chain. We promote small-scale farm structures that help to improve soil and biodiversity. From the field all the way to our customers, we are dedicated to the constant analysis and optimisation of everything we do in order to minimise our emissions.
In order to deal with all of these factors safely and effectively, we rely on sound supply chain management. This also includes binding contracts and quality assurance agreements with all of our partners. When covering our raw ingredient requirements, we pay close attention to sustainable origins and focus on regionality or procurement in close proximity to our production partners wherever possible. Where this is not possible, for instance with bananas, we work with partners who ensure that raw ingredients are sourced ethically and sustainably.
We procure the majority of our main raw ingredients from Europe, provided that they can be grown there and are available. For raw ingredients that we are not able to source in Europe, we have specific requirements that our suppliers must meet, for instance, for palm oil.
Our palm oil is sustainable and socially responsible
The Holle organic palm oil comes from certified sustainable production (RSPO segregated) in Colombia, Ecuador and West Africa, where it is made under close consideration of social and ecological aspects and without the use of pesticides.
Why we consciously use palm oil
From a nutritional point of view, infant formula must meet special requirements. During their first year of life, babies need a high proportion of saturated fatty acids, which is why we use a blend of different vegetable oils in our infant formulas. Palm oil is extracted from the pulp of oil palm trees and is an important ingredient in Holle infant formulas made from cow’s milk.
Palm oil-free alternatives in the Holle range
Our recipes with wholesome organic full-cream goat’s milk make it possible for us to dispense with using palm oil. This is because, along with vegetable oils, goat’s milk fat provides the necessary saturated fatty acids and thus makes the use of palm oil superfluous. Holle formulas from goat’s milk are therefore an excellent alternative.
Breastfeeding is the best way to provide infants with the nutrients they need for their healthy growth and development. It also plays an integral role in forming the deep attachment between mother and baby. A healthy and balanced diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding will benefit your milk production, as well as nursing your baby from the start and at regular intervals.
If you need to supplement your baby’s breast milk diet, please consult a healthcare professional (e.g. paediatrician, midwife, parents’ counsellor, nutrition consultant). Using infant formula may have adverse effects on your milk production and on the breastfeeding process itself. If you decide not to breastfeed your baby at all, you might not be able to reverse this decision later.
Please always follow the preparation instructions on the package, as improper use and storage can lead to health problems.
Various organisations such as Stillförderung Schweiz (Breastfeeding Promotion Switzerland) provide more information about breastfeeding.
