Eden Research's 'Cedroz' gets approval in Italy

The AIM-traded firm said the approval in Italy covered tomato, eggplant, pepper, chili, pepino, cucumber, melon, courgette, pumpkin, and strawberries.

It said the authorisation came after the emergency approval of Cedroz in Italy in May last year, to coincide with the growing season.

Cedroz was Eden's second product to be fully authorised in Italy, with its biofungicide ‘Mevalone’ sold under the trade name ‘3LOGY’ by Sipcam since 2016.

Both Cedroz and Mevalone are based on naturally-derived terpene active ingredients, and encapsulated by the company’s patented ‘Sustaine’ technology.

Italy is the second largest producer of fruit and vegetables in the European Union, growing 10 million tonnes of fruit and around seven million tonnes of vegetables annually.

In addition, it had 1.9 million hectares of organic farming land in 2019, with demand for organic food continuing to increase, making it a key market for Eden.

Cedroz was now approved for use in four of the top five fruit producing markets in the EU, including Spain, Portugal, Greece and now Italy

Eden described Cedroz as a “bio-nematicide”, which uses its terpene technology and controls root knot nematodes - a pest that causes serious damage to crops, both in open field and greenhouse situations, costing the global agriculture industry between $80bn and £100bn each year.

Due to shifting consumer expectations and tighter regulation around traditional nematicides relied on by farmers across the EU, there was a “growing opportunity” for bio-nematicides such as Cedroz to take market share, the Eden board explained.

Both the active ingredients used in Cedroz, geraniol and thymol, are approved as organic inputs across the EU, and were exempt from maximum residue limits.

As a result, Cedroz addressed consumer demands for fewer synthetic chemical inputs and an absence of pesticide residues in food.

“Today's authorisation represents an expansion of Eden's footprint in Italy, one of Europe's most significant agricultural markets,” said chief executive officer Sean Smith.

“Last year's emergency authorisation of Cedroz in Italy highlighted the strong need for a sustainable alternative for growers in the Italian market and we are delighted that we have now gone one step further to full authorisation.

“Cedroz has now been authorised in nine countries and we look forward to continuing to work with our partners, including Eastman to further expand its footprint in this expanding gap in the market.”

At 1122 BST, shares in Eden Research were up 3.03% at 15.3p.