BioForest Technologies Inc., a Sault Ste. Marie green insecticide company with a knack for stopping the emerald ash borer beetle, has struck a deal with a California tree care firm to distribute their organic formula in the U.S. The J.J.
BioForest Technologies Inc., a Sault Ste. Marie green insecticide company with a knack for stopping the emerald ash borer beetle, has struck a deal with a California tree care firm to distribute their organic formula in the U.S.
The J.J. Mauget Company of Arcadia, CA has been named the exclusive U.S. distributor of TreeAzin, an organic pest management product, made by the Sault company that contains invasive bug species from defoliating trees and plants.
Joe Meating, president of BioForest, said it's strictly a distribution agreement. Mauget will not take an ownership position in BioForest Technologies nor in the TreeAzin formulation.
“We're testing the waters with these folks and it's kind of a (year-by-year) thing that's renewable,” said Meating, who contacted Mauget a year ago to help springboard their entry in the U.S.
Mauget will sell to other tree care companies and distributors through their national network, plus do some direct sales.
“To do it ourselves would have been a long, hard battle,” said Meating. “We're willing to share profits if we can find the right partner who has a well-established distribution network, is a well-known name in the industry, and are also people we like.”
The product, which will be available in one-litre bottles, will keep the BioForest Technologies label.
TreeAzin is an all-natural pesticide that was developed in a federal forestry lab in the Sault where Meating used to work as an insect control officer. The product uses an active ingredient derived from the neem tree seed in India.
BioForest also came up with a special tree injector to deliver the formulation that has proved successful in protecting ash trees from the emerald as borer during U.S. field trials.
“We're very impressed with the efficacy of BioForest's TreeAzin,” said Nate Dodds, president of J.J. Mauget in a Nov. 2 press release. “This is a great product that works against tough pests like gypsy moth and emerald ash borer, and we're proud to distribute TreeAzin throughout the U.S.”
Though not registered for commercial use in Canada, TreeAzin has U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approval for use in 18 states, a list that Meating intends to aggressively expand “now that we have a U.S. partner.”
While activity in the U.S. is moving fast, the company is still struggling to be cleared for commercial use in Canada.
Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency has granted the company only an emergency registration to handle emerald ash borer outbreaks in Sault Ste. Marie, Toronto, Oakville and Ottawa.
Meating said it could be 2011 before they get full federal approval. With TreeAzin proving to be effective against a variety of tree bark-eating bugs, the nine-employee company could expand nationally very quickly with regional offices and new jobs in marketing, sales and distribution.
“Hopefully we get full registration in Canada and we expand with a whole bunch of other pests – we're in 10 provinces and territories – and at that point I see changes in the company internally just to manage that. We intend to manage Canada ourselves, that's always been our goal.”
With the U.S. market opening up for them, the company is starting to get some bites from the Middle East.
A nasty bug called Red Date Palm Weevil is taking a terrible toll on agricultural production throughout the Mediterranean.
Meating said a pesticide distribution company there has contacted them about doing some testing and injection trials. “When they heard about TreeAzin and our organic listing, there was a lot of interest.”
www.bioforest.ca
