[aldevo]

Well, I can't see where Bergger formulas came from. Were they Forte formulas? Or, were they Bergger made by Forte. In the case of being Forte formulas, how did Bergger get them when Forte went belly up? If they were Bergger formulas, then would Bergger give them to Ilford. Either way, it is a case of giving some degree of trade secret to Ilford.

Then again, will Ilford let Bergger people into their closed areas to make the emulsions or will Bergger make them somewhere else and deliver them to Forte? All of this is very hazy to me.

In the end, it sounds more like Ilford will make products to Bergger specs and they may even cut and package them for Bergger. Or, is another company going to do that?

Oh well, one thing is sure. The price of Bergger products will go up.

PE

Well, I don't claim to actually know anything, but it seems Forte's present ownership has little interest in doing anything other than developing the land on which the Forte factory lies. No reason not to put the formulas up for sale to Gerard & Boucher to take elsewhere to be produced; I doubt many other folks would be lining up to buy them in this age.

And if they actually ARE Bergger formulas; if the choice is between risking loss of IP or folding your tent because you can't get your product produced - well, I think the choice is pretty obvious.

The legalities don't worry me. As for the expense - well, those of in the USA are going to have to get used to paying more for imported stuff in the long-term. That's been a long time coming and it won't be limited to photographic supplies.

I don't doubt for a second that we will see new stock getting produced under a Bergger label by Ilford, but I think we'll simply have to wait and see what sort of products these actually are...

At least it still demonstrates that multiple parties think the production of analog B&W materials are still viable and that isn't anything other than a positive.