The exhibition at PestWorld – what was spotted?

The exhibition at PestWorld is a real international market place. Visitors come from near and far to see what’s new. What have the manufacturers been working on? The US is, after all, the largest single market so is likely to lead the way in new developments.
So what was new and on display?
Bump into any commercial delegate, especially from an international distributor and they are on the look-out for products to arrange to introduce in their own markets. Virtually the first question asked is – what have you seen that’s new?

The answer to this question, this year, just as last, was… ‘well, not much’. We might be doing some of the exhibitors a dis-service and apologise if your product was missed, but with nearly 200 stands and a relatively limited amount of time, it’s impossible to carefully examine every display and speak to the staff looking after the stand.

Having said this, the exhibition halls had a buzz and it’s always good to catch-up with friends and see what amusements are going on!

Before considering any new products, it’s always good to spot an new companies – or company changes. One new name on display was Corteva agriscience – formed from the merger during the year of DuPont and Dow. Hotter off the presses though was the reorganisation following the acquisition of Curtis Gilmour by Pelsis. This only occurred in late August so the companies had to stick to their two individual stands, but products from both companies were on display on both.

New on the Pelsis stand was a very snazzy new fly killer. Called Infiniti, it comes with LED lights on two easily replaceable strips positioned behind a glue board. On the Brandenburg stand was another novel fly killer, this one utilising the company’s IoP (Internet of Pests) digital recording system, first seen in Seattle two years ago, to provide real-time fly count data. Whilst on display, for both products it’s a case of coming soon – likely early next year!

Products designed to offer more physical means of control were in evidence – as easier to bring to market as little or no regulatory requirement. One example was the colourful fruit fly trap from Plastdiversity designed to capture both commonly found fruit flies – the common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) and also the spotted winged fruit fly (Drosophila Suzukii). Another spotted on the Bird Barrier stand was Border Control. Developed by UK-based PestTrader it is designed to be placed around goods, in effect in temporary quarantine, to monitor for insect and rodent attack. 

In the way of equipment, Swiss manufacturer, Birchmeier, had two new generation back-back sprayers – the Flox 10 and Iris 15, along with the AS 1200 which offers pressure-controlled target mist spraying powered by a rechargeable battery.

Seen in the wings at last year’s event, but the Nattaro Scout bed bug monitor, developed by Nattaro but sold by Edialux, is now in fully available.

If you were looking for new active ingredients you had to search hard! On the FMC stand there was what the company described as their most technologically advanced molecule to date. Using what they call UVX technology, which is claimed to protect the product from UV light. The product, Scion, is a new version of their gamma-cyhalothrin. Otherwise, the chemical manufacturers – such as Syngenta, Bayer and Corteva – appeared to be concentrating on their now not so new digital monitoring systems.

Finally, being wicked, the prize for the most amusing product on display goes to PestWest and their bio-gel cleaning product designed to eliminate stains and smells from cats and dogs. Called Piddle Pal. Need you say more!