Termidor^® : Ten years of revolutionary progress

A decade ago, Australian pest managers were challenged to rethink their approach to termite management with the launch of a “revolutionary new product”, Termidor termiticide.

According to BASF Technical Manager, Scott Kleinschmidt, those pest managers who took up and embraced the new challenge, and the opportunities it provided, “ … have well and truly prospered”.

“Pest managers who specialise in termite management have found themselves building highly profitable businesses on the back of Termidor and its unique ‘Transfer Effect’, Scott said.

Apart from the celebrations, the 10th Anniversary of Termidor has prompted BASF to not only look back at the progress that’s been made over the past decade but to look ahead at what lies in store for the company, its pest management clients and the industry, and the future for precision termite management.

“Without doubt, BASF’s innovation pipeline promises even more exciting advancements for those working in what is undoubtedly among the most challenging areas of pest management,” Scott said.

“When Termidor was first launched in 2002, Australian pest managers found themselves with not just a new termiticide but a whole new technology and strategic approach which was to become a complete game changer.

“Termidor —manufactured and formulated to the highest standards — became embraced, not just by us at BASF, but also our distributors, pest managers and, dare I say it, home owners, as a radically new pest management paradigm.

“In effect, Termidor has become a ‘strategic system’, in which all parties and stakeholders, played a part in the interests of protecting dwellings and other structures the length and breadth of Australia,” he said.

“As part of the new paradigm, BASF recognised the need to go way beyond simply producing and delivering containers of termiticide … as efficient and reliably effective as that new termiticide may be.

“This need was driven, in the main, by our recognition that we were no longer dealing with ‘termite barriers’ … traditional (at the time) treatments that ‘stopped termites in their tracks and forced them into the open, where they would be more easily detected’.

“With Termidor, we were providing what is better described as a ‘treated zone’:  termiticide impregnated soil surrounding buildings. Due to Termidor’s non-repellency, termites could enter, unaware of the presence of the powerful toxicant, and one which could be carried efficiently and effectively back to the nests to be passed on to the entire colony,” Scott said.

“This was, of course, the ‘Termidor Transfer Effect’ in action … the characteristic of our unique and powerful product which made it so radically different to all that had gone before it,” he said.

Scott Kleinschmidt said the new approach made it vital that pest managers using Termidor became familiar with and skilled at applying the product in ways which maximised the opportunities for termites to:

•       first, find their way to and into the treated zone;  and then,

•       take the toxicant back to their nests and spread it among other members of the colony.

“This need for pest manager education became the geneses of BASF’s ‘Termidor Accreditation’ training,” he said.

Scott said it was, also, equally important for pest managers to feel that their new approach was not just acceptable to but understandable by their clients.

“There was little point in simply hoping home owners would accept an approach which, in many ways, flew in the face of current conventional wisdom and practice,” he said.

“Blind faith in a technology which worked so differently from the old barrier paradigm was too big an ask.

“So, we did what no other company had tried before.

“We developed and launched an innovative, exciting, consumer-targeted advertising and promotional campaign to help home-owners come to grips with how they too could and would benefit from the revolution we’d started,” he said.

“The result of this partnership is the thriving termite control business we enjoy today.  Together, BASF and pest managers have created a termite control revolution”.

According to Scott Kleinschmidt, “ … the release of Termidor in 2002 arguably raised pest manager’s standards for effective termite control more than any other product release in recent memory”.

“However, the innovations BASF has brought to Termidor since the initial launch are what have cemented its business value to pest managers nationwide,” he said, “ … innovations which have built on the product’s non repellency and undeniable effectiveness and set a new standard for reliable termite control in Australia”.

In 2006, years of earlier research bore significant fruit when Termidor’s label claim for protection against termites was extended from five to eight years.

“Our label was also extended to include the use of Termidor in reticulation systems and foaming applications, extensions which gave pest managers greater flexibility in treating different structure,” Scott said.

“And, then, in 2007, after over 10 years of research in Australia to find the perfect termite nest elimination product, BASF launched Termidor Dust,” he said.

Scott Kleinschmidt said Termidor Dust was first tested in Australia in the mid 1990s.

“Since then, there have been 96 field trials conducted on houses, bridges, power poles, trees, in bait stations and termite mounds across Australia,” he said.

“As a result, Termidor Dust now provides Australian pest managers with exceptionally fast termite control, achieving colony elimination within two to four weeks.”

Scott said ant management was added to the Termidor label in 2009, a move “ … which brought proven performance and value to general pest control and providing a powerful new non repellent tool for controlling one of Australian most nuisance pests”.

In 2010, following the receipt of feedback from the pest control industry, BASF Pest Control Solutions announced a new ,improved formulation of Termidor Dust.

“We acknowledged the feedback from experienced industry professionals and improved the existing formulation to provide enhanced flowability,” Scott said.

“Then, in March 2011, in a move to not just continue but expand its support for Accredited Termidor Applicators, BASF launched a new consumer website, offering homeowners a quick and easy solution to find their local pest manager via an online postcode locator.

“The website also aims to educate homeowners on the benefits of using a professional to treat their home and generates sales leads to listed accredited Termidor applicators,” he said.

In 2012 and beyond, Scott said there is much more to come.

“For a manufacturer as committed to innovation as BASF, even the best product is constantly being made better,” he said.

“The bottom line is that we have not stopped innovating after we launched Termidor 10 years ago.

“We continue to have our eye on the future of the industry:  providing continued support to industry associations and investing heavily in a ‘solutions pipeline’ that promises to continue to add value and allow pest managers to better meet their customers’ needs,” Scott said.

For today’s pest managers, Scott Kleinschmidt said the need for them to become experts in more than just pest control continues to grow.

“Today’s pest managers need to be skilled technical managers, business managers, people managers, and marketers,” he said.

“Beginning with Termidor and spanning the last decade, BASF has focused on providing pest managers support in all these areas.

“As a result, pest managers can sleep soundly at night with the knowledge that Termidor, the keystone of their termite and ant control programs, and BASF, the world’s leading chemical company, will stand behind them, with superior, reliable products and support.