There are a lot of things to worry about when running a commercial kitchen: food quality, inventory and employee morale are just a few of the things on that list. However, as long a list as it might be, insects and rodents should not be on it.
It is very difficult to keep unwanted pests out of a kitchen. Because most commercial kitchens are busy places, there tend to be messes that attract unwanted critters before they are cleaned up. If you run a kitchen, here are three important things you can do to keep pests away.
Implement a Strict Cleaning Schedule
The biggest threat to any kitchen – in the pest-control game, anyway – comes in the form of a mess. When a kitchen is running, there’s bound to be things like spills and splatter. Over the course of a shift, this adds up until your kitchen is a veritable all-you-can-eat buffet. Of course, everyone knows kitchens should be cleaned, but most do not take it as seriously as they should.
Cleaning a kitchen should be a skill developed and nurtured just as much as any other culinary skill. Have daily and weekly tasks that not only make sure the entire kitchen is cleaned from top to bottom but gives each member of your staff clear expectations. By putting your kitchen staff on a strict cleaning schedule and assigning tasks, ensure that your kitchen is getting the daily cleaning it needs to stay pest-free.
Declutter and Get Rid of Boxes
Unwanted pests do not just like food – they are also attracted to clutter. A cluttered, box-filled room gives rodents, roaches and other pests a place to hide. In addition, more clutter in a room means more chances that bits and pieces of food got missed during cleanup. Boxes can even be food themselves!
Put Heavy Equipment on Rollers
Even the cleanest of people cannot clean what they cannot reach. What good is an impeccably clean floor if there’s a buildup of crumbs, grease and food behind it? Your kitchen probably has large pieces of equipment that are just impossible to move. By putting these pieces on rollers, you can shift things around to get to those hard-to-reach places.
Keeping your commercial kitchen pest-free can be hard, but it should not be your full-time job. Let us worry about that instead. Contact us at Presto Pest Control today!
