Roles:
Under the law which governs it, the Federal Monopoly Administration for Spirits (BfB) is obliged to purchase and use the agricultural alcohol (agricultural and SME output) produced by the approximately 800 small and medium-sized bonded distilleries in Germany, approximately 23,000 licensed distilleries and approximately 200,000 owners of agricultural raw materials, mainly potatoes, cereals and fruit.
The BfB pays a purchase price, which depends mainly on the cost price, for the alcohol it purchases. This is the only way to secure the economic existence of such distilleries (social responsibility).
Bonded and licensed distilleries are broken down into agricultural, commercial and fruit distilleries. Bonded distilleries are distilleries which are sealed (locked) by customs for warehousing, so that disposal of the alcohol produced in the distilleries is not possible without the intervention of customs. Distilling rights stipulate how many hectolitres of alcohol such distilleries may produce, under which conditions and from which raw materials, using the allowances under monopoly law (distilling right). The percentage use of distilling rights is specified annually by the BfB on the basis of the stock, anticipated sales and financial resources (annual distilling rights).
Licensed distilleries are distilleries which are not sealed by customs. They may produce 300 or 50 litres of alcohol during the operating year (01 October to 30 September). The amount of alcohol is estimated on the basis of the raw materials processed and in accordance with average yield rates. In addition to licensed distilleries, there are still around 200,000 owners of raw materials (owners of fruit trees), who may produce 50 litres of alcohol p.a. in a licensed distillery from their own fruit yield. The number of owners of raw materials depends on the fruit harvest and may fluctuate substantially from year to year.
Licensed and bonded distilling is only admissible in certain regions of the Federal Republic of Germany (particularly the Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria). In addition, however, owners of fruit trees throughout the Federal Republic may operate a fruit distillery cooperative (bonded distillery) in which up to 300 litres of alcohol per member per year may be produced from their own orchards. The BfB thus guarantees the stock of millions of fruit trees (formation of traditionally-managed orchards as an environmental duty). The distillate alcohol produced in the distilleries is supplied to the BfB plants. It is then inspected in the internal laboratories for minimum concentration requirements and possible impurities. The state-of-the-art facilities of the chemical laboratories available in all plants guarantee a standard, high quality of BfB alcohol (chemical name: ethyl alcohol, ethanol, C2H5OH), under the management of the central laboratory at the administrative headquarters in Offenbach.
The distillate alcohol purchased (around 60 million litres p.a.) is processed in BfB's own purification plants in Berlin, Munich, Nuremberg and Wittenberg to produce 96 and 99% neutral alcohol. This is known as purification and is carried out in plants (stainless steel columns) like those in a refinery. Undesirable by-products and water are removed in an environmentally-friendly and energy-efficient way in these production facilities, which are controlled and regulated by process control systems, until the neutral alcohol meets the relevant conditions.
As the largest producer of agricultural alcohol in Germany, the BfB supplies customers in Germany quickly and reliably through a distribution network which currently has eight branches (Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Holzminden, Munich, Neu-Isenburg, Nuremberg, Berlin and Wittenberg). The BfB's neutral alcohol meets the regulations governing food and medicines. For decades, manufacturers of spirits, cosmetics, remedies and vinegar have been its main customers. The BfB currently has around 4,000 customers. In order to meet its customers' demands, the BfB not only keeps the aforementioned basic types of alcohol in stock at all times but also a range of other special types of alcohol. It has eight plants throughout the Federal Republic, in which a total of around 71 million litres of alcohol are stored. The storage capacity of the individual plants is between 3 and 18.8 million litres of alcohol. Sales in the 2003-2004 financial year (for spirits, foodstuffs, remedies, cosmetics, vinegar and technical purposes) totalled around 600,000 hl.
Contact
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Hauptverwaltung
Friedrichsring 35 63069 Offenbach Postfach 10 03 62 63003 Offenbach Fon 069 8302-1 Fax 069 8302-241 
poststelle@bfb.bfinv.de
http://www.bfb-bund.de
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20539 Hamburg Billwerder Neuer Deich 28 Fon 040 780456-0 Fax 040 7893881 |
40221 Düsseldorf Hamburger Straße 41 Fon 0211 90139-0 Fax 0211 90139-90 (Verw.) Fax 0211 90139-99 (Verkauf) |
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06886 Lutherstadt Wittenberg Bahnstr. 10 Fon 03491 4154-0 Fax 03491 4154-80 |
81673 München Neumarkter Straße 1 Fon 089 436631-0 Fax 089 436631-90 (Verw.) Fax 089 436631-91 (Verkauf) |
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63263 Neu-Isenburg Schleussnerstraße 6 Fon 06102 2000-0 Fax 06102 2000-90 |
90491 Nürnberg Äußere Sulzbacher Straße 182 Fon 0911 91993-0 Fax 0911 91993-49 (Verw.) Fax 0911 91993-28 (Verkauf) |
37603 Holzminden Papiermühle 16 Fon 05531 7912 Fax 05531 7983 |
Internet: http://www.bfb-bund.de
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