Grocery Store Pest Control

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With so many types of food coming and going each day, grocery store managers and owners have big jobs protecting their properties from pests. From mice to flies, common pests can be attracted to your store, but can also be deterred with certain proactive steps. As always, if there’s a problem, reach out to Hawx Pest Control to address your current pest problems and prevent issues from taking hold in the future.

How to deal with rodents and pests in your grocery store?

Here are a few of the most common pests supermarket managers and workers come across:

Rodents

Rodents are a common headache for owners and managers of grocery stores, with the potential to cause costly loss of product. The good news is that rodent numbers can be managed with careful monitoring and regular pest control visits.

Cockroaches

Cockroaches sneak in through the tiniest cracks, love to hitchhike in cardboard boxes, and hide in out-of-the-way places. If you see visible signs of cockroaches, like egg casings or excrement, it’s a sign that the infestation is already underway.

Flies

Flies are hard to keep out of grocery stores because they can ride in on daily deliveries or fly through customer doors that open throughout the day.

Stored Food Pests

Stored food pests, such as moths, beetles, and mites, feed on dry food like flour, oats, and breakfast cereals. They can easily go undetected; proper stock rotation and storage are critical to preventing these pests.

How to prevent pests in grocery stores

There are plenty of reasons for pests to seek out grocery stores for food and shelter, but there are ways to prevent them. Here are the prime hot spots in your grocery store where you should take steps to proactively deter pests.

Produce & Meat

It’s important to display produce and meat properly, but that also means that scents are readily available to pests like rodents, cockroaches, and ants. Staying on top of any signs of pests is essential.

Sink & Floor Drain

Drains are common areas for attracting flies. Your drains may be the culprit if your facility is clean but still struggling with pests like flies and cockroaches. Give your drains a hearty scrub with hot water and a drain-specific scrub brush tool designed to clear away gunk deep in the drain pipes.

Stored Food & Cardboard

Pests are attracted to things they can eat, like stored food and cardboard. Inspect packages of food and boxes regularly and dispose of unused boxes to prevent pests from eating them or laying eggs in them.

Garbage

In addition to garbage cans in the produce and meat departments that hold food waste, garbages in break rooms, kitchens, and offices can attract pests if they’re not emptied and cleaned routinely.

Signs of a grocery store pest infestation

Educate your staff about these pest indicators so you can get ahead of any infestations:

Specks that look like coffee grounds or black pepper – Cockroaches can be difficult to spot until their numbers are large, but one of the telltale signs they leave behind is excrement that looks like coffee grounds or specks of black pepper.
Egg casings – Cockroach egg casings are small, pill-shaped, and usually white or tan. Cockroaches breed quickly, and it’s best to bring in professional pest control services immediately after spotting their egg casings.
Rodent bite marks and droppings – Rats and mice will chew through packaging and cardboard to get to food sources, and of course leave droppings along their paths. Both of these are sure signs of rodents in your grocery.

Pest Control Services

Hawx Pest Control is ready to send our knowledgeable technicians to your grocery store to help keep it safe from pests. Our pros are the best in the business, with industry-leading products, equipment, and technology. We’ll assess your commercial pest management needs, handle current infestations, and put a treatment plan into place to prevent future infestations. No matter the scope of your pest control job, Hawx professionals are here to help.