The Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) monitors and regularly reports on the markets for grain, animal feed, fats, milk and sugar in Germany. To do this, it draws on data from producers, producer associations, processing companies and trading companies in the

• fat industry,
• the grain industry,
• animal feed industry,
• dairy industry,
• sugar industry
• yeast industry and the
• food industry.

If you are active in one of the above-mentioned economic sectors, you are obliged to report regularly to the BLE.

In the price reports, you report on the purchase or sales prices of certain foodstuffs:

• Fruit
• vegetables
• meat
• butter
• cheese
• drinking milk
• Cream
• Milk powder enriched with vegetable fat
• Flour
• molasses
• Olive oil
• sugar

In addition, you also report on the quantity of milk powder enriched with vegetable fat produced. You must submit the price reports on a monthly basis.

Large processing companies and large companies:
Large mills process more than 200,000 tons of bread grain annually,

Manufacturers of compound feed for livestock that purchase more than 5,000 tons of molasses as a raw material every year.

Weekly price reports are only required for so-called large companies in the fat industry as well as dairies, large butter, cheese and meat processing companies and large companies in the food retail trade (LEH).

Large food retail companies have an annual turnover of more than EUR 7 billion.

Large processing companies have an annual turnover of more than EUR 250 million.

Large dairies produce more than 250,000 tons of drinking milk and/or more than 20,000 tons of cream and/or more than 2,000 tons of firm mozzarella.

Large companies in the fat industry produce more than 5,000 tons of milk powder enriched with vegetable fat per year.

Exemption from the reporting obligation:

There are also companies to which the reporting obligation does not apply. The following companies are exempt:

• Dairies that do not produce drinking milk, cream or mozzarella,
• Dairies with an annual production of 250,000 tons of drinking milk or less,
• Dairies with an annual production of 20,000 tons of cream or less,
• Dairies with an annual production of 2,000 tons or less of firm mozzarella in the form of
• blocks of at least 9 kilograms,
• Mills with an annual processing of 200,000 tons of bread grain or less,
• Manufacturers of compound feed for livestock who purchase 5,000 tons or less of molasses as a raw material per year,
• Manufacturers of chemical or pharmaceutical products that purchase 500 tons or less of processed sugar, based on the white sugar value, as a raw material each year,
• Companies in the fat industry that produce 5,000 tons or less of milk powder enriched with vegetable fat per year,
• Companies in the food retail sector that have an annual domestic turnover of EUR 7 billion or less or where the product subject to notification is organically produced,
• Manufacturers of bakery products, long-life bakery products, ready meals, confectionery, ice cream, soft drinks and fruit juice beverages with an annual domestic turnover of EUR 250 million or less or where the product subject to the notification requirement was produced organically.
• Companies in the food industry that are neither food retailers nor manufacturers of chemical or pharmaceutical products, manufacturers of milk powder enriched with vegetable fat, of yeast, nor of baked goods, long-life baked goods, ready meals, confectionery, ice cream, soft drinks and fruit juice drinks.