Fighting insects on all levels

Sales of pesticides and insect repellents total nearly HUF 3,5 billion annually. The category shows constant growth over longer periods, with dynamic expansion in the tick repellent segment. The season begins in March with products intended for use against crawling insects. Later on, sales of products for flies and mosquitoes also take off. Different repellents sell well from may till September, depending on the weather. Products for use against cockroaches and ants are popular throughout the year. As sales in this category show close correlation with the weather, trends should be evaluated on the basis of longer than 12 month periods. Insect repellents for use on our skin are generally aerosols, creams or sticks, which come in 100-150 millilitre sizes. Effectiveness against ticks as well as mosquitoes is essential in this segment. Autan Protection Plus is a new product from S.C. Johnson, intended to provide protection against ticks for a period of 4 hours, and 6-7 hours against other insects. They also have other innovations for this year, like the dermatologically tested OFF! spray and OFF! gel, which is free of any fragrance, colouring or preservatives. These will also be available in pharmacies, apart from the conventional channels. As we have been informed by Spotless, the distributor of Vape, several new additions to the Vape Derm product line will appear this year. Vape Derm Extra spray offers protection against mosquitoes and ticks for five hours, while Vape Derm Sensitive dry spray can be used on sensitive skin as well. Pesticides for use inside homes are classified depending on whether these are to be used against flying or crawling insects, or if immediate or long lasting effectiveness is expected. More environment friendly, electrical products are also available. Baits can gradually wipe out entire colonies of ants and cockroaches. This segment is hardly detectable in terms of quantity, but accounts for 5 per cent of the market in terms of value. The largest segment within pesticides is that of aerosols intended to be effective immediately. According to data from MEMRB, this segment accounted for 25 per cent of total sales in the 2007 season. Units come in 250 to 500 millilitre sizes, with the 400 millilitre size being the most popular one. The Raid aerosol from S.C. Johnson Raid is effective against flying insects, while Raid ant killer gets rid of crawling insects. One of the most popular brands is Chemotox, distributed by Sara Lee Hungary . Apart from aerosols, they also offer powdered pesticides under the Domotox brand and Chemotox ant traps. Chemotox has also launched a range of vaporizers for keeping flying insects away. The Protect product line distributed by Bábolna Környezetbiológiai Központ Kft. is available in two aerosol versions. Protect also has a spray which offers protection against crawling insects for a period of two weeks, while Protect Extra uses a new generation agent called hydroprene, which provides protection against crawling insects for up to six months. Vape launched its Open Air aerosol for outdoor use last year, which became product of the year in Italy. The market of insect traps shows dynamic expansion. Examples of these are Vape Fly trap, Raid 4 seasons moth trap, and Vapr Food Moth trap. For outdoor use, electric mosquito traps are increasingly popular. Combinations of electric and sticky traps are also spreading. A good example is the HACCP trap manufactured by P+L Systems and distributed in Hungary by TREND-MARKETING Kft.