Common Grocery Store Pests

If you run a grocery store, one of the things that you have to be vigilant of is the presence of pests running amok in your establishment. Although you may run a clean ship and buy only high-quality produce, you still run the risk of having unwanted visitors in your grocery store. Here are some pests to look out for that particularly affect grocery stores.

Cockroaches

These pests are not just associated with run-down apartment buildings. Cockroaches are attracted to grocery stores because their varied diet allows them to eat whatever is available to them. You can notice them if you find dead cockroaches lying around, smell a generally unpleasant odor around your produce or shedded skins that are in the shape of a roach. Keeping them out of your store will require cleaning up all spills and quickly taking out all rotting food and general trash.

 Rodents

Rats and mice tend to nest close to food supplies, so don’t be surprised if you run into a problem with them at your grocery store. You can tell if they’ve moved in by seeing chewed up wires, droppings, squeaking noises or brown marks that they make on their trails. Set up traps where you maybe have found them lurking and seal up any possible entryway.

 Flies

Flies are also very common especially if you’re situated in warmer and more humid climates. They’ll swarm your produce and also drains, sinks, garbage areas and anywhere they could generally smell food. To make sure that flies don’t infest your store, you need to keep up hygiene by constantly removing trash, making sure your produce is fresh and keeping fresh air circulating through your store.

Birds

Birds can nest at the roof of your building and because of their proximity to you, they could easily find their way into your store. The food supply would be what is attractive to them, so they can nest and fly their way into both the inside of the building and into your trash. Be sure to bird proof your trash and have doors that close when not in use to discourage birds from flying in. Keep the exterior of the building, including the roof, clean and clear as to also discourage birds from nesting on your property.