Sandoz Crop Protection Prepares for Changing Agrochemicals Industry

Abstract

Public attitudes toward agricultural chemical producers may be at an all-time low. Whether deserved or not, companies must operate in an environment that has become largely hostile to their business. Fears for health and safety have made chemical pesticide products increasingly unwelcome. (Observers suggest that the industry's future will depend not just on a change in image, but rather on a change of business perspective to address environmental and safety concerns of customers, regulators, and the public while still producing effective products. Sandoz Crop Protection, the four-year-old U.S. subsidiary of Sandoz Ltd. of Basel, Switzerland, is moving in this direction. Based in Des Plaines, III., the company manufactures a broad variety of both traditional chemical pesticides and biological pest control agents. Formed from the merger of Velsicol Chemical's agrochemical business, acquired from Farley/Northwest Industries in 1986, and Sandoz's Zoecon subsidiary, Sandoz Crop Protection became the North Amer...