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John “Rick” Benson grew up on a family farm about 120 miles east of San Diego as a fourth-generation Californian. Farmers in the region still grow alfalfa, wheat, cotton, lettuce, onions and other crops. But now they use blasts of hot air instead of toxic chemicals to control pests in vegetable and fruit production.
Benson, a 1997 Thunderbird graduate, says his father was one of his first prospects after he helped launch Lazo TPC Global in 2007. The venture uses patented Thermal Pest Control technology to help farmers all over the world fight insects, mites and fungi with nontoxic hot air.
“There are a number of pests that have shown a weakness to heat,” Benson says. “And we are creating a more sustainable growth cycle.”
Benson, who works as chief financial officer and director of North American Operations for Lazo TPC, says he enjoys working for a company that helps the environment by eliminating the need for pesticides. He says his wife and children are also excited about the venture, which has spread from its roots in Chile to places such as New Zealand, Spain, Brazil and the United States.
“We are doing good,” he says. “Doing well and doing good are not always the same thing. Our company does both.”
Lazo TPC clients use tractor-pulled machines that blast air at more than 100 degrees Celsius onto their crops. The heat dissipates after a few seconds, which is enough to control pests but not long enough to harm the plants.
Benson says the treatment produces thicker, greener leaves and better fruit. It also usually costs less than traditional pesticide use per acre, which appeals to many farmers.
“They’re motivated by the cost savings,” Benson says. “But they enjoy telling their children about the environmental benefits.”
The interest in the bottom line doesn’t bother Benson. “Sustainability has to be cost effective to be sustainable,” he says.
Benson and Lazo TPC President and CEO Marty Fischer stumbled on the idea for the company while working as consultants in Chile. In Santiago’s airport in November 2006, Fischer ran into an old friend, a Chilean fruit grower named Florencio Lazo Barra. Lazo had just received the U.S. patent for his Thermal Pest Control system and was interested in finding partners to expand its use worldwide.
Lazo designed his first heat blower as a frost control device in the 1990s, but he quickly realized that the stream of hot air also eliminated pests without damaging the fruit.
Benson and Fischer liked what they saw. They closed their consulting company and started working with Lazo full-time.
Benson says the company plans to set a new standard in agriculture under the label “grown without pesticides.” He says the environmental benefits from this label will exceed the standards used on many organic farms, and will appeal to consumers who want to eat healthier and higher quality produce.
He says everybody wins except the pests. “We’re just not seeing the infestations that we were before,” he says.
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