Three Companies Supply Nearly Half of California’s Pest Control Products
Key result: Products registered to BASF made 18.5 percent of California’s 18.8 million structural pest control applications in 2023, Control Solutions 14.1 percent and Envu 14.0 percent. Control Solutions’ share rose from 4.9 percent in 2016, driven by bifenthrin: its products made 55.7 percent of bifenthrin applications in 2023, up from 11.4.
A share table nobody publishes
Pesticide makers do not publish sales to the pest control trade by company, and industry market reports that estimate them are sold privately. California’s pesticide use reports offer a public alternative: every structural pest control application names the product used, and every product carries an EPA registration number that identifies the company holding the registration. We matched the products behind 99 percent of each year’s applications to their registrants in EPA’s Pesticide Product Label System, used EPA’s recorded transfer dates to credit each year to the company that held the registration at the time, and computed each company’s share from 2016 to 2023.
This is a share of applications in one state, not of revenue. A cockroach gel bait placement and a termite soil treatment both count as one application. Our ranking of the most used products covers the product level.
Who holds the registrations
| Registrant | Share, 2016 | Share, 2023 | Most applied product, 2023 | Its applications, 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BASF | 18.0% | 18.5% | Alpine WSG (two registrations) | 1,222,195 |
| Control Solutions | 4.9% | 14.1% | Bifen I/T Insecticide/Termiticide | 1,766,274 |
| Bayer, then Envu | 18.2% | 14.0% | Suspend Polyzone | 1,336,807 |
| Syngenta | 11.2% | 11.3% | Demand CS (two registrations) | 821,901 |
| Bell Laboratories | 7.1% | 9.9% | Ditrac All-Weather Blox | 1,068,181 |
| MGK (Sumitomo) | 3.1% | 6.2% | Vendetta Nitro Cockroach Gel Bait | 390,499 |
| FMC | 9.8% | 5.9% | Talstar P Professional Insecticide | 329,644 |
| Liphatech | 4.2% | 3.5% | Flatline Soft Bait | 223,780 |
Source: California Department of Pesticide Regulation, Pesticide Use Reports, site code 10 (structural pest control), 2016 and 2023; US EPA Pesticide Product Label System, registrant and transfer history, retrieved 5 October 2026. Distributor products are credited to the basic registrant. Author calculation.
What it means. The three largest registrants supplied 46.5 percent of 2023 applications and the ten largest 89.8 percent. The four-company share ranged between 53.4 and 63.2 percent from 2016 to 2023, with no steady trend. The single most applied product in 2023 was Control Solutions’ Bifen I/T, with 1,766,274 applications, 9.4 percent of all structural applications.
What limits it. Products accounting for about 1 percent of applications each year were not matched. A few registrations had no current EPA record and are shown as unidentified in the CSV.
Gains and losses since 2016
What it means. Control Solutions nearly tripled its share. MGK doubled, from 3.1 to 6.2 percent, and Bell Laboratories rose from 7.1 to 9.9 percent. FMC fell from 9.8 to 5.9 percent and the Bayer registrations, transferred to Environmental Science U.S. LLC, which trades as Envu, in December 2022, fell from 18.2 to 14.0 percent.
The bifenthrin switch
What it means. Bifenthrin is the most applied active ingredient in California structural pest control, with 3,521,513 applications in 2023. In 2016, FMC, which sells bifenthrin as Talstar, held the largest share of those applications, 38.6 percent. By 2023 products registered to Control Solutions made 55.7 percent and FMC’s 22.8 percent. Control Solutions’ bifenthrin applications rose from 317,405 to 1,962,568.
What limits it. The data show which registered products pest control businesses applied, not why they switched.
The registrations have kept moving
EPA’s records show the transfers continuing after our data end. Talstar and Dragnet, FMC’s leading structural products, were transferred to Envu on 24 March 2025. Credited to today’s registrants, Envu’s registrations would have made 19.8 percent of 2023 applications, the largest share.
Checks
1. Bifenthrin reconciliation
Result. Bifenthrin applications credited to registrants sum to 3,521,513 in 2023, equal to the structural bifenthrin total from the use reports.
2. Year-by-year registrant
Method. Each registration is credited to the company holding it on 1 July of each year, using EPA’s transfer dates; for example, Talstar is credited to FMC through 2023.
Download the data
The tables in this report are published as CSV files under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. You may republish, remix and build on them, including commercially, with attribution to The Pest Control Brief and a link to this page.
- Structural pest control applications and share by registrant, California, 2016 to 2023 (CSV, 531 rows)
- Structural bifenthrin applications by registrant, 2016 to 2023 (CSV, 97 rows)
How to cite this report
The Pest Control Brief, “Three Companies Supply Nearly Half of What California Pest Control Applies, and Control Solutions' Share Nearly Tripled”, 2 October 2026. https://thepestcontrolbrief.com/pest-control-pesticide-manufacturer-market-share/
References
- California Department of Pesticide Regulation. Pesticide Use Report annual archives, 2016 to 2023. files.cdpr.ca.gov/pub/outgoing/pur_archives/. Accessed 2 October 2026.
- US Environmental Protection Agency. Pesticide Product Label System, product and transfer records. ordspub.epa.gov PPLS. Retrieved 5 October 2026.
- Envu. Legal notice naming Environmental Science U.S. LLC. envu.com. Accessed 5 October 2026.
How the shares were built
Applications. Structural pest control applications by product, 2016 to 2023, from the application count field.
Registrants. The basic EPA registration number of every product making up 99 percent of each year’s applications, 441 registrations, looked up in EPA’s Pesticide Product Label System with its transfer history.
Limitations. One state; applications, not revenue or volume; distributor brands credited to the basic registrant.
Last reviewed: 5 October 2026.
For business and trade reporters
Most quotable statistics
- BASF registrations made 18.5 percent of California structural pest control applications in 2023, the largest share.
- Control Solutions’ share rose from 4.9 percent in 2016 to 14.1 percent in 2023.
- Control Solutions’ products made 55.7 percent of bifenthrin applications in 2023, FMC’s 22.8 percent.
- The ten largest registrants supplied 89.8 percent of applications.
- Credited to today’s registrants, Envu would have held 19.8 percent of 2023 applications.
Press summary
Three pesticide companies supply nearly half the products California pest control businesses apply, according to an analysis of state use reports and EPA registration records by The Pest Control Brief. Products registered to BASF made 18.5 percent of 18.8 million structural applications in 2023, Control Solutions 14.1 percent and Envu 14.0 percent. Control Solutions nearly tripled its share since 2016 as its bifenthrin products overtook FMC’s Talstar line. After FMC’s Talstar and Dragnet registrations moved to Envu in 2025, Envu holds the registrations behind the largest share.
Headlines editors could use
- Who makes the pesticides exterminators use
- Control Solutions tripled its share of California pest control
- Bifenthrin’s market flipped from FMC to Control Solutions
Questions
Which company makes the most pest control pesticides?
By California structural applications in 2023, BASF, with 18.5 percent, followed by Control Solutions and Envu at about 14 percent each.
Who makes Talstar now?
EPA records show the Talstar and Dragnet registrations transferred from FMC to Environmental Science U.S. LLC, which trades as Envu, on 24 March 2025.
What is the most applied pest control product in California?
In 2023, Control Solutions’ Bifen I/T, with 1,766,274 structural applications.
Is this market share by sales?
No. It is share of reported applications in California. Sales figures by company are not public.
Where can I get the data?
Both CSV files above have every registrant and year.
