Biontech: a pioneer in Taiwan’s biopesticide industry
Founded in 2002, Biontech Co., Ltd. was Taiwan’s first specialist biopesticide company. In this exclusive AgroPages interview, founder and general manager Bruce Chen (Liang-Rong Chen) shares why he entered the biopesticide industry, together with the company’s market positioning, sales strategy and plans for new products.
Q1: Could you introduce Biontech’s history, positioning and main business?
Biontech began with my daughter’s tears. One day, she came home from school crying. Her teacher had asked what the children’s parents did for a living. My daughter felt ashamed that our family worked in pesticides: she associated them with toxicity and people using them to take their own lives. This happened in 1990, as I recalled in this interview. It deeply affected me and made me reconsider the industry’s future. Could we develop biological pesticides that would benefit people without harming them? That was the inspiration for Biontech.
Biontech was established in 2002. Before then, our parent company, Kuang Hwa Chemical, had worked with the Development Center for Biotechnology (DCB), a leading biotechnology research institution in Taiwan, to develop Bacillus subtilis Y1336 and Streptomyces candidus Y21007. Biontech is research-driven, focusing on agricultural biotechnology research, laboratory and industrial production, product registration, marketing and promotion. Our natural, non-chemical product portfolio includes biopesticides, biofertilizers and feed additives. Bacillus subtilis Y1336 is our flagship strain, and we also have high expectations for probiotic animal-feed additives.
Q2: Could you explain Biontech’s market strategy and business model?
Our proprietary Bacillus subtilis Y1336 strain has been well received in Taiwan. Internationally, we first entered Japan and secured biopesticide registration there. At the time of this interview, products were also registered and on sale in 10 other countries, including three advanced OECD countries. We expected registrations in a further five countries in the near future. We have a competitive position in Southeast Asia, China, Japan and Korea, unlike competitors concentrating on Europe and North America. Although Asia’s biopesticide market began developing later, it is growing rapidly. Our early entry, marketing experience and results provide a foundation for increasing our presence in Asia.
In Taiwan, Biontech operates through direct distribution. Our parent company, Kuang Hwa Chemical, had been established for 50 years at the time of the interview and had earned farmers’ trust and support through a well-developed sales network. Some dealers have worked with Kuang Hwa for more than one generation.
In overseas markets, we select strong local partners with enthusiasm, knowledge and experience in biological products to serve as regional agents. We work together on positioning, registration, market development and farmer education. Teaching farmers to use biopesticides correctly is essential to market success. Our overseas agents are professional companies with nationwide distribution networks. We also work with specialist consultants to understand and develop markets and formulate strategies. In some countries, Biontech owns the product registrations itself.
Q3: What kinds of products does Biontech offer, and what are their characteristics?
Our flagship Bacillus subtilis Y1336 is a vigorous strain offered in powder and liquid formulations. It is an agricultural biological fungicide addressing both fungal and bacterial plant diseases, for foliar spraying or soil drenching. It can also be added to organic or compound fertilizers as a fertilizer enhancer. Biontech supplies products and technical assistance to fertilizer manufacturers for this purpose.
Another product, Streptomyces candidus Y21007, is described in the interview as particularly effective against Phytophthora diseases. Alongside biopesticides and biofertilizers, we offer a probiotic animal-feed additive, Shizhuang, combining two strains. With restrictions on antibiotic use, probiotic feed additives have substantial market potential.
Biontech has a strong research team and a diverse strain library. We collaborate with industry, government and academia to develop new strain-based products and improve existing commercial strains.
Q4: Could you describe your collaboration model and new-product plans?
We continue to collaborate with multinational companies to explore our strain library and develop biological insecticides and acaricides. We also work with companies outside agriculture to apply their specialist technologies to agricultural products.
At the time of this 2016 interview, Biontech planned to commercialize 20 new strains in Taiwan within three years. Planned patented products included Bacillus amyloliquefaciens A1, isolated from Taiwan’s volcanic mud for antibacterial and antifungal applications, and a nanoscale plant-nutrition product. Our liquid Bacillus subtilis formulation had also recently obtained biopesticide registration in mainland China. Multinational and major local companies were evaluating distribution rights.
Biontech welcomes correspondence from agricultural professionals at pojuchen@biontech.com.tw or marketing@biontech.com.tw.
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