Commercial Pest Control For Your Restaurant
Mixing the perfect ingredients for a successful restaurant is always easier said than done. You need a pinch of structured management, a dash of delicious meal options and a heaping spoonful of commercial pest control—and don’t forget to fold in happy customers!
Without commercial pest control, your restaurant might just flounder. Pests can threaten the livelihood of your restaurant, the quality of your ingredients and the health of your employees and customers. It simply isn’t worth the whisk!
Okay, okay... enough of the cooking puns.
In all seriousness, a commercial pest control plan is an extra line of defense for your restaurant. You’ve worked too hard to get your restaurant to where it is, so don’t let pests come in and ruin it! Pest control is crucial for any commercial property, and restaurants are no exception. Without proper pest control, food storage and pest education, your facility could become a feeding ground for pests.
To keep this from happening to your restaurant, follow below for all of the important reasons your restaurant needs commercial pest control.
Pests Trying To Dine Without A Reservation
Here are some of the most common pests that may come in looking for a meal:
Cockroaches
Cockroaches in your restaurant are never a good thing. Roaches can hitchhike in on shipments and deliveries, sneak in through back doors or crawl in through windows. Once inside, cockroaches will begin to multiply quickly. Once an infestation occurs, your restaurant (and sanitation score) will be in big trouble.
Aside from the fact that cockroaches are disgusting, they are also vectors for various bacteria. E. coli and Salmonella are two of the common bacteria cockroaches are known to spread. Plus, if cockroaches have infested your restaurant, you may notice an oily smell. This pest odor is extremely unpleasant, and can even affect the taste of food!
Rodents
No customer wants to see a mouse—or rat—scurry across the floor of the restaurant they are eating in. Not only is that revolting, but also quite unsanitary. Rodents can carry all sorts of bacteria and diseases, and their droppings can contaminate food and equipment.
Mice and rats are chewers too. If they get into your restaurant, there’s a good chance they’ll start gnawing on whatever they can sink their teeth into. It doesn’t take much for them to get in either. Mice can fit through a hole the size of a dime, while rats can squeeze through a quarter-sized hole.
Flies
Flies are drawn to your restaurant for a multitude of reasons. Between all the trash, food and foot traffic, it’s easy to understand why flies get inside. But just like all the other pests, flies can cause some serious sanitation issues for your facility.
Flies can carry pathogens that cause disease, and they are known to spread food-borne illnesses. This not only threatens the health of your customers, but the health of your restaurant as well. A fly infestation will drive customers away, and negatively impact your sanitation score.
Beetles
Beetles and other stored product pests are known to form large populations and contaminate food storage quickly. Things like nuts, corn and rice are some of the common items these pests will infest. Once they weasel their way inside, they will begin to lay eggs, and some may even get stuck and die, further contaminating your food.
Outdoor Pests
Customers love the fresh air of an outdoor patio or eating area. What they won’t love though? Mosquitoes and wasps. If you don’t have outdoor pest control against pests like mosquitoes and wasps, your customers may leave with itches and stings that will make them not want to come back. Defending your outdoor eating area is just as important as defending the inside, so make sure your pest control plan protects your entire restaurant from pest damage.
5 Tips To Keep Pests Out For Good
The best way to keep pests out of your restaurant is with commercial pest control. However, there are quite a few things you can do on your end to protect your restaurant from pest damage.
1. Train your employees
You aren’t going to be able to spot every pest that gets in your restaurant. So take the time to warn and educate your employees about pests to be on the lookout for. If your employees are on the same page, they will be able to inform you of potential pest problems or infestations. That way, you can call a specialist to control the pest problem quickly before it gets out of hand.
2. Check behind appliances
Make sure to frequently check behind appliances for potential pest issues. Pests like cockroaches love to hide in the dark, and they’re known to sneak around behind ovens, microwaves and refrigerators. Mice and rats will hide behind appliances too, snacking on forgotten crumbs.
Pull appliances out from the wall frequently and check for dead pests, pest infestations or pest droppings. If you find one or all of these, you need to contact an expert quickly to determine the source of the problem.
3. Keep food secured
Properly storing and securing food is a huge step in pest prevention. Make sure everyone in your restaurant always follows the regulations for food storage from the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety And Inspection Service. Improper food storage may result in larger pest problems, so take extreme care with storage methods.
4. Listen to customer feedback
If a customer complains about a bug in their food, or seeing pests around the restaurant, don’t dismiss it. Instead, investigate to see what might be going on. If there are multiple complaints, chances are you have a pest problem.
Do your best to find the source of the problem, and treat it accordingly. Double-check the ingredients and storage containers to see if pests are hiding away. As always, contact a specialist before pest complaints start to get common.
5. Call Killingsworth
At the end of the day, the best thing you can do to protect your restaurant from pest damage is to call Killingsworth. We know how to identify, treat and control pest problems, without affecting the productivity of your restaurant.
Our All-Inclusive Restaurant Program
At Killingsworth, our commercial pest control plan for restaurants is specifically designed for chain and fine-dining restaurants, as well as institutional food service locations. Our team of experts will begin by identifying possible pest problems, and then complete ongoing pest prevention for your restaurant. Even more, we will help ensure compliance with health inspections!
If you implement our commercial pest control plan, you will also receive a personal Commercial Account Manager who will maintain open and honest communication throughout the pest control process. We will even bundle termite and lawn services for a discounted rate!
Sound too good to be true? It’s not! Give us a call today to learn more about our All-Inclusive Restaurant Program. We can’t wait to help you “Get Your Killingsworth!”
Think you might have more than just pests running around your restaurant? Don't let the problem get worse, schedule a removal service with us now!
