Written by Maia, President
First, read my affiliate disclosure.
As you may have seen in our updated Safe Infant Formula Guide, I recently recommended Lebenswert as the healthiest infant formula on the market (yes, even better than Holle and HiPP!). Unfortunately, it’s become harder and harder for American parents to find European formulas as they are no longer available on Amazon.
Some parents have resorted to buying Holle and HiPP and other European formula on eBay, but many of you feel uneasy purchasing something so important from unverified sellers.
This is why I decided to create a screening process to help me find trustworthy online vendors where my readers could confidently buy European baby formulas.
This post will help you figure out where to buy Holle and HiPP and Lebenswert, as well as other European brands of formula.
Bottom Line on Where to Buy European Formula
I’ve approved and established an affiliate relationship with the following vendors.
Please note that Gimme the Good Stuff is not responsible for the quality of either the formula itself or the experience of ordering from these vendors. I am simply saying that based on my research, if I were buying a European formula for my own child, I would feel comfortable getting it from any of them.
My Vetting Process for European Formula Vendors
I started on the websites of Holle and HiPP, and contacted the retailers they listed to see if any of them would ship to the U.S. The answer was no.
I then looked into a variety of websites that were mentioned on blogs and parenting forums as places moms were buying European formula–some of these had good reviews and others had failed to deliver the formula parents ordered. One mom told me that she drove by the address listed on one of the websites and found a boarded-up building in a bad L.A. neighborhood!
I narrowed my list down to the websites that seemed not sketchy (based on my online research), and scheduled phone calls with the owners of these sites.
Why Most of Them Didn’t Make the Cut
While I cannot say that any of these companies seemed outright dishonest–or that I truly believe anyone is taking empty Holle formula containers and filling them with Similac–I didn’t feel completely reassured by my conversations with most of these vendors.
Perhaps some of this was a language barrier (plus time-zone issues–one guy in Germany was nice enough to speak with me at midnight his time!), but in many cases I just couldn’t seem to get a clear answer on the supply chain.
I really wanted to know exactly where this formula was coming from, and how these vendors were getting it to their customers in the U.S.
Another thing I didn’t like about many of these sites is that they didn’t seem to know anything about why these formulas were superior, and in many cases they would ask that I recommend a bunch of other European products they wanted to sell to U.S. parents–most of which of course were not Good Stuff!
A Note on X-Rays
A lot of you wonder if you should be concerned about formula being x-rayed when it comes through customs (as is the case for any imported food or food ingredient). What I have read suggests that this is not a risk, and this article may be particularly reassuring to those of you who are concerned.
Stay sane,
Breanne says
Hi! I’ve struggled so much to find a formula that works well for my preemie baby daughter that doesn’t give her tummy issues and your site let me to Lebenswert. She has only been on a few days but so far so good! I am so relieved. Now I am obviously trying to buy it from the most affordable place since we have spend 30K on medical costs this year. It seems like organicbabyfood.shop has the best pricing. Have you vetted this one?
Ashley says
Recently decided to stop breastfeeding and was so happy to find OrganicBabyShop. We’ve been ordering Holle from them and both shipments came very fast (few days) and it really is one of the best formulas out there, very similar to breastmilk. Super happy with organicbabyshop.com
sarah says
Do not order from Little World Organics. It has been a hellish experience with no customer service. We still don’t have our baby formula that was ordered 3 weeks ago and now I am scrambling to find an alternative. The customer service takes weeks to respond and they don’t solve issues. LWO is the worst customer experience I have had in a decade. Do not rely on them for your precious baby food.
Jennifer says
We are having the same experience with Little World Organics. Ordered over a week ago and they still haven’t shipped.
Hipp UK Combiotic 1 says
Thank you so much for this post. It’s really helpful!
Holle formula was a life saver! Choosing the correct Organic formula for a baby is big deal for all mothers. Always check all ingredients and reviews of the people while buying a product.
Jim says
BEWARE of Formuland selling Non Authorized Formula….I emailed Formuland to ask if they buy their Hipp UK formula from an authorized distributor (knowing there are only 3 distributors with rights. They told me that they buy it from a “smaller wholesaler” which really means not a legit source. Since they will not share their source and they are not buying from an authorized wholesaler, I have every reason to believe their products could be counterfeit. There are several discussions on underground message boards like blackhatworld where shady people are selling bulk formulas to retailers. With the news out of China about fake formula, one should not trust Formuland as a source for their baby.
shane says
Jim – do you know any way to determine if it’s fake formula? I just ordered from formulaland before reading reviews as Organic Start just stopped selling formula. I’ve tried to cancel with my credit card company … but that seems near impossible. How can i tell if the formula is counterfeit/fake? I could taste it … but i dont know if that would really answer my questions 🙂
Holly Robertson says
We love Hipp & Holle formula for our babies. We order them and get a decent discount at formularus. If you stock up, you can get free shipping if you order enough.
Jennifer says
Has anyone ordered from organics4yourbaby.eu? They have Loulouka in stock but I’m wondering if they are legit before ordering.
Dee says
Hi Jennifer, did you get any response to your question above? I’m also interested in buying Loulouka but not sure where to order from. Any idea where to order from in Europe?
Charlena says
I had ordered from Beyond Organic Baby and got the wrong order after waiting a month. Found all the complaints on BBB website and another mother told me about getleche.com. Ordered from them ever since. Great customer service!