Against the backdrop of increased consumer environmental awareness, declining termite pretreatments, and the housing slowdown, the pest control services and retail products market has faced its share of challenges during 2005–07. However, near-term challenges aside, Mintel believes long-term prospects for growth are sound, buoyed by product innovation; population and geographical trends; and product innovation.

This report shows readers where the pest control market has been and where it will go, and is a must-read for industry participants interested in learning about:

The prospects of future growth through Baby Boomer gardeners

Successfully responding to consumers’ fear of pests and pesticides

How retail rodenticides could be affected by upcoming EPA regulations

How new retail product innovations may give pest control products an edge over pest control services

How and why pest control services are chosen

Marketing opportunities directed at asthma sufferers; consumers who associate pests with poor health; and people who just want to kill pests

Resources include Mintel GNPD, a proprietary product development assessment tool, custom consumer research, sales data for each covered segment, and information culled from more than 20 interviews with industry insiders.

The retail market for US pest control consists of two segments:

Professional pest control services for the home

Retail pest control products used inside and surrounding the home, such as sprays, liquids, baits, and traps, as well as insect repellents

Excluded are pest control services for businesses or farms; products to control pests outside the home (such as aphid sprays); and products to control fleas on pets (such as collars).