Innovation Helps BASF Find and Create Blue Oceans of Opportunity

28 May, 2008 By: Marty Whitford LM Direct!

WASHINGTON, D.C. — BASF is seeing blue these days — blue oceans of opportunity that is.


Markus Heldt

“We used to compete mainly in fiercely competitive ‘red ocean’ environments, where the sharks are plentiful and food sources are limited and disappearing. But with substantial R&D time and monetary investments, we’ve found, and created in many cases, blue oceans of opportunity where competition is scarce, user benefits abound and growth potential is exponential,” said Markus Heldt, BASF group vice president – North America, Crop Protection Division.

Heldt and a host of other executives from Ludwigshafen, Germany-based BASF SE discussed the company’s performance, recent breakthroughs and growth strategies at the BASF Media Summit: Innovate ’08 — From Research to Reality, held in Washington, D.C., May 12-14.

Dr. Stefan Marcinowski, a member of BASF SE’s Board of Executive Directors, said that more than ever before, the future requires revolutionary — not just evolutionary — advancements. “After all, the future is the time zone where we will spend the rest of our lives.”

BASF SE recorded 2007 sales of nearly $80 billion — more than double the mark hit in 1998. The company employs 95,000 people across more than 170 nations. Europe accounted for most of the company’s sales (56 percent), followed by North America (21 percent), Asia Pacific (16 percent) and South America, Africa and the Middle East (7 percent). BASF Corp., the Florham Park, N.J.-based North American affiliate, employs more than 15,000 and posted sales of about $16.4 billion in 2007.

T&O Technologies


Stefan Marcinowski

In addition these advancements and the appointment of 15-year BASF veteran Nevin McDougall as applied vice president for U.S. business operations, Crop Protection Division, BASF unveiled several key T&O innovations at the summit, including:

Drive XLR8 — A new liquid formulation of Drive 75 DF herbicide. Grassy and broadleaf weeds absorb Drive XLR8 faster (rainfastness of 30 minutes compared with dry formulations that can require nearly 24 hours), giving turf professionals added flexibility with their pest management programs. Drive XLR8 offers easier mixing, handling and spraying, has a usage rate of 1.5 ounces per 1,000 square feet, and is labeled for use on commercial and residential turf grasses, golf courses, sod farms and sports fields. The product can be combined in tanks with BASF’s Pendulum and other pre-emergence herbicides for annual grass control as well as with post-emergence broadleaf products.
FreeHand 1.75G — A pre-emergent herbicide combining dimethenamid-P and pendimethalin for control of landscape and nursery weeds such as eclipta, pearlwort, northern willowherb, phyllanthus and liverwort.

Pageant — A broad-spectrum fungicide combining two AIs (Pyraclostrobin used in Insignia and Boscalid, known as Emerald fungicide in turf). Formulated primarily for greenhouses and nurseries, Pageant combats more diseases with just one application. It covers the four classes of fungi and controls diseases such as leaf spot, anthracnose, blights and downy mildew.
Clearcast —This new herbicide for selective aquatic and shoreline weed control is ideal for wildlife habitats, fishing and recreational areas, and golf course ponds, irrigation canals and ditches. Weeds and brushes controlled include Chinese tallowtree, Spatterdock and Common salvinia.
Flexible Product Packaging — A manufacturing innovation that decreases the amount of related plastic introduced into the waste stream by 60 percent compared with hard plastic jugs, while addressing crews’ needs for accurate pouring and secure storage and transportation.

Patented Progress


Mike Heinz

Mike Heinz, president of BASF SE’s Crop Protection Division, noted 58 percent of the Division’s 2007 sales are protected by patents. Further batoning down the hatches, BASF plans to launch at least three fungicides, one herbicide, one herbicide tolerance technology and an insecticide between now and 2013.

“Innovation is the lifeblood of our business,” added Dr. Peter Eckes, the Division’s senior vice president of global research and development. “It’s all about I-cubed (I3) — Innovation, Innovation, Innovation.”

Eckes estimated BASF has $1.5 billion worth of products in its agriculture pipeline alone.

“There is a lot of room for innovation in formulations,” Eckes added, describing how his group develops tailor-made isocyanate polymers to suspend droplets of active ingredients in water, thereby avoiding the need for organic solvents.

Heldt, Rea and Dr. Hans Kast, president and CEO of BASF Plant Science Holding GmbH, discussed several recent turf and ornamental (T&O) market innovations, including:

New formulations for Pendulum, Arsenal PowerLine, Chopper Gen2 and StatureSC;
Eight label extensions in 2007;
Six active ingredients (AIs) released to BASF Specialty Products since 2002, including three herbicides, two fungicides and one insecticide;
Plant health research driving increased plant efficiency (improved photosynthesis and nitrogen use), disease control (active on all four classes of fungi) and tolerance to stress (gains in antioxidant activity and decreases in ethylene production); and
BASF’s Transport Technology, which aids vegetation management through speedy plant uptake, improved weed control, enhanced rainfastness and more-consistent application with varying volumes and combinations.

Pest Management


Peter Eckes

Paul Rea, Director – BASF Specialty Products, played the 30-second audio clip. It sounded like 100 pounds of bacon frying.

“What you just heard is the sound of termites eating,” Rea said. “ They work around the clock, causing more than $5 billion in damage to U.S. homes every year, and typically it’s not covered by homeowner’s insurance.”

Fortunately, since 2000, more than 3.5 million homes have been treated with BASF’s Termidor termiticide/insecticide, which comes with a 10-year guarantee for pest management professionals (PMPs).

“We’re seeing an uptick in demand due to increased moisture issues and swarms in the Southern half of the United States,” Rea noted.

BASF recently expanded its Termidor SC and Termidor WG labels to cover more perimeter pests. In addition to killing and providing residual control of ants (acrobat, Argentine, big-headed, carpenter, crazy, odorous, pavement, pharaoh and thief), the nonrepellent Termidor now also can be used to treat for Asian lady and darkling beetles, box-elder bugs, pillbugs, centipedes, cockroaches (Australian, Oriental, smokey brown), house crickets, European earwigs, cluster flies, millipedes, silverfish, spiders (black widow, brown recluse, cellar and hobo), brown dog ticks, paper wasps and yellow jackets.

“We also amended the label to go beyond the typical ‘one foot up, 1 foot out’ perimeter treatments to cover applications around doors, windows, crevices, cracks and entryways,” Rea added.


Hans Kast

BASF also introduced the Termidor and Phantom termitcide/insecticide Companion Pack, which includes two 21-ounce bottles of Phantom and two 20-ounce bottles of Termidor per case. Developed for effective rotational use of both nonrepellent liquid products leveraging the same sprayer, the Companion Pack is ideally suited for outside general pest management programs.

In other Phantom news, Rea said bed bug calls to PMPs have risen 40 percent nationwide. Rea added that Phantom is a key tool in the integrated pest management (IPM) toolbox needed to combat these cryptic, bloodsucking creatures.

“In a recent study conducted by the University of Kentucky, Phantom achieved 95- to 100-percent control after seven days on three separate field strains of pyrethroid-resistant bed bugs,” Rea said. “This is good news, especially since bed bugs have you on their menu.”

In other recent news, BASF Specialty Products:

Debuted a food-handling establishment video for Phantom users;
Began offering its PMP customers the opportunity to link their corporate Web sites to its popular education Web sites, www.TermiteInstitute.com and www.AntInstitute.com;
Appointed Timothy Knight Business Manager of BASF’s Professional Pest Control Group. Knight joins Marketing Manager Cynthia Gigandet and Communications Manager Sandi Wilson, who joined the Group late last year.

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