Sundew Solutions has launched a new cockroach gel bait using the natural active ingredient spinosad.
Australia’s pest management industry is changing rapidly. Many customers are growing more eco-conscious, asking for a more targeted and environmentally friendly approach to pest management.
Sundew Solutions is answering the demand with the launch of its new ecowise range, Australia’s first collection of natural pest management products designed specifically for pest professionals.
Among the new ecowise range is Spinogel Roach with Natural Spinosad. It is Australia’s, and indeed the world’s, first spinosad-based cockroach gel bait developed specifically for professional pest managers. This breakthrough innovation is designed to meet the needs of the growing eco-conscious customer demographic, delivering powerful performance with a naturally derived active ingredient that aligns with the values of sustainability, safety, and science-driven efficacy.
In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for eco-conscious pest control solutions with global industry regulators, consumers, facility managers, and businesses all wanting safer, more environmentally responsible options. However, the products still need to work and deliver professional performance without compromising on safety or sustainability.
“The market has been demanding safer, more natural products for years,” says David Priddy, CEO of Sundew Solutions. “Yet no company in our industry had stepped up to truly meet that need. It took Sundew to think differently, to innovate, invest, and bring something genuinely new to market.”
Spinogel Roach is the result of that approach. It is a completely new class of cockroach bait featuring spinosad, a natural active derived from the soil bacterium (Saccharopolyspora spinosa). Originating from soil bacteria, spinosad acts on insect nervous systems through a novel mode of action (Group 5 – the spinosyns), providing excellent resistance management benefits.
Not only is spinosad natural, it also has a great toxicity profile – with very low mammalian and avian toxicity. Globally, it has earned prestigious recognition including the US Green Chemistry Presidential Award, EPA Reduced Risk Pesticide Status, and OMRI organic certification. It’s even certified for organic use in New Zealand, with Spinogel Roach expected to gain Australian Certified Organic accreditation in the coming months. This makes it an ideal option for sensitive accounts such as schools, hospitals, aged care facilities, and food-handling areas.
Importantly, having low toxicity doesn’t mean compromising on performance. In rigorous testing, Spinogel Roach has proven to perform as well as, if not better than, one of the leading synthetic insecticide gel baits.
In laboratory tests by Sundew’s R&D team, Spinogel Roach was quicker to achieve 100% mortality of German and American cockroach adults and nymphs than a well-known indoxacarb-based gel bait (Figure 1). Against American cockroach adults, the speed to achieve 100% was less than half (24 hours) the time taken by the indoxacarb-bait gel bait (72 hours).
The efficacy of Spinogel Roach with Natural Spinosad was evaluated under controlled laboratory conditions using industry-standard trial methods. Researchers conducted five replicates of ten adult and nymph German cockroaches (Blattella germanica) and five replicates of ten adult and nymph American cockroaches (Periplaneta americana). Laboratory-reared cockroaches were selected to ensure uniform age, health, and genetic consistency, eliminating variability that can occur in wild populations. This provides reliable, repeatable results that accurately measure product performance under standardised conditions consistent with professional pest management research protocols.
Cockroaches are powerfully attracted to the unique matrix formulation of Spinogel Roach, feeding readily and transferring the active to others in harbourages through secondary mechanisms like contact, regurgitation, and faecal transfer.
“Professionals tell us that performance is non-negotiable,” said Mr Priddy. “We knew that if we were going to create a natural product, it had to work as well as a leading industry standard. Spinogel Roach is proof that being eco-friendly doesn’t mean second best.”
Launched in early September 2025, the ecowise range answers the growing market call for solutions that balance efficacy, safety, and environmental responsibility. Spinogel Roach is already available nationwide, while two additional ecowise products – Spinout 133 SC Insecticide and McFly BaitSpray – are awaiting final APVMA certification and will be available soon. Each is powered by natural spinosad, offering a versatile, ecofriendly toolkit for professionals who want to stay ahead of the curve.
Mr Priddy believes the launch of the ecowise range is a signal that the pest control industry is evolving. “For decades, chemical companies have kept offering variations of the same thing, the same old actives in new bottles. But the market has changed; consumers want to know what’s in the products being used in their homes and businesses. They want transparency, responsibility, and performance. Sundew ecowise delivers all three.”
Importantly, Sundew isn’t positioning ecowise products to replace existing chemical solutions. Instead, the products add a powerful new category to every pest manager’s toolkit – the natural option for clients who want safer, low-impact, environmentally aligned services. That includes not only residential customers but also commercial and institutional sectors such as hospitality, healthcare, education, food production, logistics, government, agriculture, and organic farming.
This gives pest managers an enormous competitive advantage; it allows them to meet customer expectations, differentiate their services, and build long-term trust with eco-conscious clients.
Sundew has even gone a step further to help professionals capture this opportunity. On the Sundew Solutions website, the About ecowise page provides free downloadable resources for pest managers wanting to create their own eco-service web pages. These include editable website content, social media templates, and a ready-made 30-second ‘elevator pitch’ on how to explain the product to customers. It’s all part of Sundew’s commitment to helping pest professionals grow their businesses responsibly.
“Pest managers have told us again and again that customers are asking for natural or organic options, and they’ve had nothing credible to offer,” said Mr Priddy. “The ecowise range gives them the products, the science, and the resources to deliver professional eco-friendly services with total confidence.”
Pest managers wanting to learn more about Spinogel Roach and the ecowise range can visit the Sundew Solutions website.
