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When you choose a restaurant to go out to, you are probably looking for the best food, the best service, and the best atmosphere according to how much you are willing to spend. A fine restaurant will have low lighting, soft music, and perhaps a fireplace. A steakhouse will have choice cuts of meat on display, a bustling atmosphere, maybe peanut shells on the floor, and dancing servers. And a local hole in the wall might have the best pancakes in the world and probably lots of things decorating the walls. But one thing none of these places would ever plan on having is cockroaches. Because no one wants to eat at a place infested with cockroaches.

Dangers Of Having Cockroaches In Your Restaurant

  • Morale of employees: Cockroaches don't only impact customers, they impact employees as well. And when employees are unhappy, this can lead to poor performance, increased absenteeism, or more people quitting. It is hard enough staying on top of staffing issues without adding a cockroach infestation into the mix.
  • Sickness: One of the most common cockroaches, the German cockroach, is linked to the spread of many human pathogens. Some of the illnesses that are caused by German cockroach infestations include salmonellosis, dysentery, gastroenteritis, cholera, typhoid fever, and giardia. These and other cockroaches can lead to sickness in employees and customers alike. This means more employee absenteeism (or complete loss of employees) and loss of customers, especially if they have connected the dots and know where their sickness came from. German cockroaches are the smallest roaches that invade Maine restaurants. Nymphs are small enough to fit through the holes in a wall outlet. So these roaches will have easy access to your entire restaurant.
  • Bad reviews: There was a day when word of a cockroach sighting at a restaurant would only spread so far and for so long but in today's world of internet searches and review sites, a bad customer review can have far-reaching impact. Knowing that a restaurant has had cockroaches is only a few clicks away for a customer, or a whole group of people, looking for a good place to stop and eat.
  • Closure: When cockroaches are found in restaurants, and inspections are failed, the words "Closed due to a major public health hazard," can be a reality. When cockroaches are found during an inspection, at best this will lead to an increase in inspections and greater scrutiny on the part of the inspectors. At worst, it may lead to the suspension of a restaurant's health permit and, subsequently, the closure of the establishment. While it is possible to recover from a restaurant closure, the bad press can live on for some time.

Cockroach Prevention Tips

  • If you have water leaks, inside or out, make sure they are repaired. Cockroaches need a water source. Place fans or dehumidifiers in places where there is high humidity.
  • Keep things as clean as possible, cleaning and sanitizing daily. Make sure to pay close attention to areas that are hard-to-reach, as cockroaches have no trouble getting into hard-to-reach places. In fact, they prefer those spaces. And if there are food particles in there, they will be more than happy to stick around.
  • Don't leave dirty dishes or pots and pans out overnight. If items must be left, make sure to put them in a sink full of soapy water.
  • Be sure all food is safely stored away in sealed containers or inside refrigerators or freezers when not in use.
  • Have your building inspected for gaps, cracks, and holes and have all possible cockroach entry points sealed up.
  • Make sure all screens are in good repair.
  • Make sure there aren't water or food sources outside your business that will draw insects and rodents in close.
  • Store all outside garbage in tightly sealed containers or, if you have dumpsters, place them well away from your walls.

How Big Blue Bug Solutions Can Help

For industry-leading pest protection, schedule a consultation with one of our educated and experienced pest control professionals to establish a commercial pest management plan that will address cockroaches, flies, rodents, and other dirty pests. We look forward to assisting you in this important matter.

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