Fighting Pests At Restaurants

- Jyotismita Sharma

Among the cha l lenges that the restaurant managers face, controlling pests is one of the toughest. It is of utmost importance for housekeepers to see that the chemicals used in the products do not in any way come in contact with the food. Moreover, the emphasis is now more on reducing the amount of harmful chemicals in the process of pest control itself as guests might not be comfortable with the smell of such chemicals and such chemicals may also be bad for the environment. So the focus is now more on integrated pest management (IPM) that emphasises on prevention of pests rather than on eliminating them.

“At Sofitel Mumbai BKC, IPM has been established to control their presence in the premise. The activity is carried out everyday with effective and a minimal use of toxic chemicals, so that it is safe for the guests, the staff as well as the environment,” said Ketan Kerkar, Assistant Executive Housekeeper, Sofitel Mumbai BKC.

An essential part of IPM is to close the entry points for pests so that the restaurant does not become the breeding ground for these unwanted species. Therefore it is important for pest controllers to seal all the small and big gaps that the property might have. But this is easier said than done, especially when the restaurant is not set up within a mall or other “closed” establishments.

As Subhajit Mitra, Executive Housekeeper, Holiday Inn Mumbai International Airport, remarked, controlling pests is a bigger challenge for those restaurants that are set up in open spaces.

“Most of the restaurants are set up in open areas. It is very challenging to control the easy entry of pests or flying insects from outside,” Kerkar said.