Sustainable Sustainable Pest Control: SuziTrap has Reinvented Pest Management.
- Apr 21
- 4 min read
Picture this: you’re about to pour yourself a glass of wine or spread some jam on fresh bread. Sweet, fruity, perfect. But then a thought creeps in – how many pesticides made their way onto these fruits?
It’s a bitter aftertaste, quite literally. Because in today’s soft fruit production, artifical pesticides are still widely used. They keep pests away, yes – but at potentially high cost to our health and the environment. Alternatives exist, but until now, they haven’t been truly effective.
Science in Action: The Idea Behind SuziTrap
That’s where a young research-driven start-up steps in: turning scientific insight into practical innovation: SuziTrap, a start-up project that emerged from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, showing that research can do more than publish papers – it can transform agriculture and change industry.
Anjana Pisharody Unni and Somasundar Arumugam, the founders of SuziTrap, are taking on a tiny but destructive enemy: the spotted wing drosophila.
This pest loves ripe soft-skinned fruit. The larvae develop inside the fruit and eat the flesh. Infested fruit quickly becomes soft, mushy and moldy. The spotted wing drosophila causes major damage – even entire harvests can be ruined.
Instead of fighting nature with poison, SuziTrap takes a different route – sustainable innovation over chemistry. Their product uses the flies’ own senses against them. By triggering visual and olfactory cues, the system lures the insects into a trap. The result: sustainable and cost-effectively pest control, no pesticides, no toxic residues – and richer harvests with healthier and cleaner fruits.
Their innovation offers long-lasting, species-specific performance, supporting the shift towards greener agricultural practices.
SuziTrap is a powerful example of how research can move beyond the lab, driving real-world change through entrepreneurship. An idea becomes a product, a product becomes an innovation — and innovation may transforms entire sectors.
The SuziTrap team — Anjana Pisharody Unni and Somasundar Arumugam — together with their start-up coach, Clemens Frick.
Sustainability as a Driver of Innovation
For Anjana Pisharody Unni and Somasundar Arumugam, the motivation to start their own venture arose from the realization that much of the effort they invest in research often ends with a publication — while the underlying ideas hold strong potential to create real-world impact, particularly in agriculture. The desire to translate their work into something practical and truly beneficial became the driving force behind their start-up journey.
Phase 1: April 2025 - September 2025
After a successful bootcamp, the team entered Phase 1, where, as Anjana Pisharody Unni reflects:
One of the biggest challenges was learning to trust ourselves — believing in our ideas, our decisions, and the path we were carving together.
We often found ourselves questioning our own capabilities, which made decision-making more difficult at the start. But over time, small wins and steady progress helped us build confidence in our skills and judgment.
The six months of Phase 1 have been both intense and rewarding. We navigated areas entirely new to us, facing a steep—but exciting—learning curve. Many of the challenges we encountered were beyond our formal training, and one of the most valuable lessons has been learning how to approach and solve these unfamiliar problems together as a team.
One of our proudest achievements so far has been establishing collaborations across multiple areas. Building these connections has not only expanded our perspective but also strengthened our network, which has proven invaluable for our ongoing journey.
Looking ahead, our main challenges lie in expanding these collaborations further and navigating complex regulatory requirements. We are actively pursuing new partnerships while investing time to understand and address the regulatory landscape, ensuring our solutions are both practical and compliant.
Phase 2: since October 2025 — Market Track
Step by Step to a Market-Ready Trap
Size, color, shape, and material — all of these factors require careful consideration. When it comes to design decisions, especially material choices, the team prioritizes practicality first, ensuring that the solution is both functional and effective. From there, economic feasibility comes into play, assessing how viable it is to bring the product to market at scale.
For Anjana Pisharody Unni and Somasundar Arumugam, entering the world of entrepreneurship has not been a single major adjustment, but an ongoing journey — a continuous process of learning and adapting as they find their footing. One of the most important lessons they have learned is the value of building connections and seeking guidance. Reaching out for support has proven invaluable and is something they strongly recommend to any aspiring sciencepreneurs.
What if your next scientific discovery could become the next sustainable business?
SuziTrap embodies a new kind of entrepreneurship — one that views sustainability not as a constraint, but as a source of creativity and impact. By turning research into a tangible, eco-friendly solution, the team shows how scientific work can lead directly to meaningful change — for farmers, consumers, and the planet alike.
In short: SuziTrap it’s a proof that innovation rooted in research can make both the market and the world a better place.
Roadmap @ MAX!mize
Batch: #5
Bootcamp: February 2025
Profile
Institute: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
Founders: Anjana Pisharody Unni, Somasundar Arumugam
We are looking forward to supporting you on your individual start-up journey!
Ready to unlock your sciencepreneurial skills and become part of our next batch?
