Restaurant pest control may be costly, but it’s certainly not as costly as having pests running around your restaurant freely. The damage that can cost your business will probably take a very long time to repair.
Pests are usually attracted to food debris, warmth, and several other things around the restaurant. They enjoy staying in the dark and corners of a building, a common reason they are mostly found in the garbage areas.
Are you having a pest infestation? Are you at the risk of losing your customers due to the regular appearances of rodents, cockroaches, flies, etc, at your restaurant?
By the end of this article, you would have learned how to deal with them completely and save your business from the losses they would have cost you.
Contributing Factors To Pest In Your Restaurant
Why am I regularly having pests all over my restaurant? You wonder.
Several factors contribute to pests constantly showing up at restaurants. Some of them are:
- Garbage Cans
Pests like rodents and flies are usually attracted to waste organic materials. This is the major reason you always find them anywhere food debris is deposited e.g. Garbage can areas.
- Entrances and Exits
Open doors, windows, etc, are among the factors that contribute to pests having their way into your restaurants often. You need to pay special attention to such places if you are having a pest infestation in your restaurant.
- Lighting
Some pests are attracted to lighting. That explains the reason you see them swarming around the light bulbs outside the restaurant.
Apart from that, there also pests like cockroaches that avoid places with bright lights. If you don’t have enough light in your restaurant, you are always going to see them around.
These are just some of the factors that contribute to pests around your restaurant.
Importance Of Restaurant Pest Control
Restaurant pest control is important for several reasons:
- It saves you from losing your customers. Nothing turns away customers faster from a restaurant than the presence of pests all over the place.
- Restaurant pests control saves you from unnecessary loss of income. The main purpose of establishing a business is to make profits. The moment pests become a major problem in your restaurant, you are bound to lose your customers. That will ultimately lead to a heavy drop in income.
- It helps in building or restoring your reputation. Investing your time, energy, and resources to control pests around your restaurant is not a wasted effort. It helps in building or restoring an already-damaged reputation for your business.
- It helps your restaurant avoids food poisoning which can occur as a result of pests introducing germs and diseases to food materials meant for customers’ consumption.
- Restaurant pest control is your surest way of avoiding fines and lawsuits from government agencies that monitor the activities of restaurants within the country.
What are the Requirements for Carrying out Pest Control in Restaurants?
There are several requirements food establishments or restaurants must meet before and after carrying out pest control in the US.
Some of them are listed below:
- You are required to employ the services of qualified pest control experts. Even for regular inspections on the restaurant premises.
- The method of pest control you apply in your restaurant must be legal and safe
- Restaurant staff must be well trained to detect and handle infestations.
- You are also to prevent infestations by keeping the areas around the restaurant clean and setting up strategies to stop or prevent pests from coming in contact with food items.
- Food debris must be properly disposed of to avoid infestations.
Restaurant Pest Control Procedure: 2 Methods
The procedures for carrying out restaurant pest control depends on the method being used, the type of pest, and the size of the establishment.
Below is a common checklist used in restaurants to control different types of pests and their procedures.
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Physical Method
The physical method of controlling pests in restaurants involves the use of electrocution, traps, and other tools to completely eradicate or reduce rodents and insects. Below are the procedures:
- Using Traps
Traps are mainly recommended for use against rodents either in or outside the premises of the restaurants
- Place the rodent traps in areas such as Dumpster areas, food storage, and other places rodents are likely to be seen.
- Regularly check the traps to remove any rodent caught.
- Number the traps or the areas where they are kept and document them for easy monitoring.
- Using Electrocutors
Electrical discharge insect control systems are mainly used against flying insects. They attract and kill different kinds of insects. Below is how to use them
- Install the devices outside of the restaurant. They are not recommended for indoor use especially in places where foods are prepared or stored.
- Ensure that the light bulbs are properly set and the whole devices connected to the power source.
- Switch on the devices and leave them to attract and kill pests.
- Regularly inspect and clean the trays to remove dead insects from them. Allowing them to pile up can lead to bacteria and viruses being spread all over the restaurant through the electric insect killer.
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Chemical Method
The chemical method of controlling pests involves the use of pesticides that have been approved by the Environmental protection Agency (EPA). The use of such products must be done following the directions or instructions that are found on the label.
Restaurant pest control, especially the use of a chemical method, demands a high level of carefulness to avoid food contamination.
Killing Insects With Chemicals In A Restaurant
The use of insecticides to wipe out pest like spiders, cockroaches, flies, mosquitoes, etc, from a restaurant, is often done in the following ways:
- When the restaurant is not in operation, a properly trained staff or a hired pest control expert will carry out complete fumigation of the entire building. Inside and outside.
- Once that is done, the treated areas must be given some time before people are allowed to enter them.
- Equipment and other things in the room at the time of fumigation should be thoroughly washed to avoid contamination with food materials.
Killing Rodents With Chemicals In A Restaurant
Rodenticides are special chemicals for controlling rodents. When used for restaurant pest control, extra carefulness is needed as rodents may carry the poison to other places where food items are stored.
The procedures involved in eradicating pests from your restaurant chemically includes:
- The documentation of every chemical used, the quantity, and areas they are used.
- Placement of bait stations in strategic places outside of food areas
- Regular checking of the bait station for dead rodents
- Careful removal and disposal of baits that are old or infested to avoid insects infestation
Restaurant Pest Control Plan
Without developing a proper plan for controlling pests at your restaurant, you will keep having pest problems. You need to create an effective plan for managing them in order not to lose your customers and your reputation.
In developing a good pest management plan for your restaurant, there are several factors to put into consideration. Some of those factors are:
- Who will handle the pest control activities? Will It be done by trained staff or will you employ the services of a professional pest management company? It has to be clearly stated in your plan.
- The places you want pest control activities to be done in the restaurant. The specific areas, inside and outside.
- The type of pest control you want to be done (chemical, physical, etc)
- The machines or tools that will be used (the ones you already have and the ones you need to get)
- How long it will take to finish it and how many times in a month will it be done.
- The process involved in carrying out the pest control activities. How it will be done.
These are things you should carefully consider when creating a pest control plan for your restaurant. It will help determine how effective the control activities will be.
Cost Implications
“How much will it cost to eradicate pests from a restaurant?”
You may be wondering.
Most restaurant pest control companies will charge you between $150 and $200 for initial treatment. That depends on the size of your establishment and the degree of infestation.
For monthly services (at least twice in a month), you will be paying between $120 and $150 per month.
The price listed here includes that of rodent and insect infestation treatment.
In Summary
An untreated pest infestation can lead to the closure of your restaurant if care is not taken. You can lose your customers, your business reputation, and lots of money if you allow rodents, cockroaches, flies, and other pests to take over your food business.
That is the major reason pest control is not a topic you should overlook as a restaurant owner. You must do whatever it takes to see your restaurant free from pests.
Have you been searching for information regarding pest management in a restaurant? I hope you find this information useful.