Pest Control In Restaurants: Why It is So Important and How To Get Your Staff Involved

People see flies in your establishment and that signals to them that your food is not fresh

| 15 August 2013 12:24

If you own or manage a restaurant, you know that the summer season should be about focusing on all the fresh and available ingredients that can be incorporated into your menu; it shouldn’t be a daily fight against the invading insects and rodents that would like to make your restaurant theirs. But unfortunately for some restaurant owners, the summer season is a continuous struggle against flies, cockroaches and other insects as well as rodents including mice and rats.

Winning the war against these pests is easy, IF you have partnered with a professional pest control company.  Attempting to control these pests on your own can be a nightmare battle that you will spend all your time combating, rather than focusing on your menu, your service and your customers. 

Why is pest control in restaurants so important? At Pest Portal Zimbabwe, we know that in the restaurant business, your reputation brings people through the door. Word of mouth is a powerful thing and if you have one bad review, your reputation can go down the drain quickly. Even if your food is top notch and your service is excellent, the presence of pests inside your restaurant can deter even the most dedicated diners.

People see flies in your establishment and that signals to them that your food is not fresh and that it could even be contaminated. In the eyes of your customer, flies = dirty and they will make their mind up about your restaurant and your food in the blink of an eye. Cockroaches and rodents signify extremely unsanitary conditions to customers and any guests that could stand seeing a fly or two will undoubtedly flee after seeing a cockroach or a rat in your restaurant.  

Besides simply destroying your reputation, your food can actually make people sick if it has been contaminated by flies, roaches or other invading pests. These pests don’t even have to touch your food; a fly or a cockroach on your food preparation surfaces can contaminate anything that comes into contact with it. 

At Pest Portal Zimbabwe, we offer restaurant pest control that integrates prevention strategies with specific treatments and drain line bioremediation to eliminate pests in your facility.  Our services can include: 

• Cockroach Control

• Fly control

• Rodent control

• BioSolutions for your kitchen

• Building maintenance recommendations

• Food safety recommendations

• Client learning programs

• Nuisance bird control 

Another important factor in keeping your restaurant pest free is sanitation training for your staff. You have all these people working with you to make your restaurant something special; make sure they are trained in the correct ways to keep your restaurant clean and sanitized to prevent insect and rodent infestations.  

Our recommendation at Pest Portal Zimbabwe is to contact us for an on-going service program to take the worry out of pest control in your restaurant.  On-going service plans are typically cheaper than single service calls in the long run and can help you proactively identify areas in your restaurant that may eventually breed a problem, if one isn’t currently present.

We also recommend putting a pest prevention team in place inside your restaurant that includes your Head Chef and your General Manager. When these two important people in your restaurant work together towards keeping your facility pest free, solutions put into place by your professional pest control operator will be followed more easily and won’t accidentally be reversed by your restaurant staff. 

Adapted from SpraguePest