mechanochemical processing technology patented by ANO, page-8

I agree about the key-man risk but we have to live with the fact that it is as much a threat as a strength of the company, and we can only hope that he lives longer than WB. I agree that given the track record of the management, we can be assured that they will constantly try to add new products, channels and ways to expand the business.I've full faith in the management quality.

My question was mainly due to the fact that mineral-based sunscreen is a long-term structural shift, and ANO is a challenger to the incumbents such as BASF. I'm pretty sure that the competitors will not sit back quietly and let ANO eat their lunch. Hopefully by the time competitors wake up to this reality, ANO would have taken a large pie of the market share and created sticky relationship with their customers. Nevertheless, the question is if the technology is not patented, how fast and how long before can competition catch up.

On a similar line, I've also read that ANO has cost advantage compared to other players such as Everzinc. Do we know the break down of this cost advantage - is it coming from COGS, employee cost, SG&A or general operating leverage. I'm sure there is strong focus on the cost and operating leverage by the management, but it will be good to understand the breakdown so as to evaluate the sustainability. BASF, for one, I know is setting up some dedicated manufacturing plants in partnership with some really strong local players in India for some other chemicals, but can they do something similar for zinc-oxide and gain cost advantage?