It has conquered the world of the wasp and the domain of the deer, but these days Victoria-based Contech has its mind focused between the sheets and the plague of the bed bug.
This week scientists at Simon Fraser University announced they had identified a set of chemicals that can lure bedbugs into traps as a means of eradicating the pests, which have reappeared over the last two decades in industrialized countries.
The group of scientists has been working with Contech, which designs and manufactures environmentally friendly products for the garden, pet wellness and training and insect and pest control sectors. Contech also has a line of Christmas products, including a Canadian-made metal tree stand.
“We’ve been on it for a long time and the work the people at SFU have been doing for us is amazing. They are very dedicated,” said Contech chief executive Mark Grambart, noting there’s been a race to develop a product to deal with bed bugs.
“We thought we cracked the code about nine months ago but we refined it over the summer,” he said.
The team at SFU, which started looking at the problem eight years ago, has identified a pheromone blend — chemical substances secreted by animals for detection — in bed bug skin and feces that when combined seem to attract the bugs and keep them in place.
Grambart said a commercial product could be available within the next year.
“The product is actually going to be very simple,” he said. “The key is finding a cheap and affordable way to attract them — and the pheromone allows you to have an effective trap. Then it’s about creating a device that can hold bed bugs, which is easy, whether that be a sticky material or another type of trap,” he said.
“The key is the attractant and not the actual trap.”
A bed bug trap would likely be a boon to Contech, which had a tough year in 2014 after growing significantly in the years previous.
“We faced some challenges in the past year,” said Grambart. “We are a heavily lawn-and-garden-based company and it was a long winter last year and that heavily affected lawn and garden sales.”
Contech grew by 50 per cent in 2012 and continued that trend in 2013 through acquisition, the most recent being Scenery Solutions, the U.S. company behind the Frame It All line of raised garden beds, landscape edging and playground borders.
Terms of that deal were not released, but at the time Contech was considered a $20-million company.
Contech, which was founded in 1987, has 55 full-time employees. That number swells to 75 when its seasonal New Brunswick operation is manufacturing Christmas tree stands.
In recent years, Contech acquired Pherotech International, Tanglefoot, G&B Pet Products, Christmas Mountain Manufacturing and Rainforest Sprinklers.
