Retail Businesses
If you run a retail business, you can’t run the risk of pests contaminating your stock, damaging your premises and earning your business a poor reputation. Trained pest control professionals help you deliver the highest standards of retail hygiene, thanks to the proven efficacy of BASF rodenticides and insecticides.
Usual issues
Premises vulnerable to pests
Food stores hold many attractions for pests who find food, water and shelter in abundance there. Particular hotspots include the loading and storage areas which are often left open, providing easy access to rodents. Bins and skips on the premises also offer prime sites in which pests can forage and scavenge, spreading dirt and germs in the process. Even the shop floor can be visited by rodents and insects, in search of fresh or dried goods.
It’s not just food stores that are suffer from pest-related damage. Given the opportunity, rodents and insects will also make homes for themselves in clothes shops, newsagents, department stores … the list is endless.
Impact / Risks
Health hazard
Rats and mice can contaminate surfaces and food with urine, faeces and dirt. They are potential transmitters of up to 200 human pathogens and can carry 45 diseases. Flies contaminate everything they touch, as they move from decayed organic matter and waste to fresh food. Other insects such as cockroaches are also associated with conditions such as diarrhoea and dysentery.
The presence of pests constitutes a serious health risk for customers and staff wherever food is stored and offered for sale. The pathogens they can spread can cause illness and food poisoning.
Pests also pose a health hazard in other retail businesses, which also attract unwelcome visitors such as mice and cockroaches. They spread filth, making premises unhygienic and their presence can also be distressing for both staff and customers.
Depleted stocks
Rats typically consume 25-30 g of food per day and mice 5 g. That may not sound like too much of a problem – until you factor in the fact that rodents are highly successful breeders. In fact, it has been estimated that 42 million tons of food is destroyed by rodents each year.
A variety of stored product insects such as weevils, beetles and ants can also be found in dried goods. These pests can eat their way through packaging before consuming and contaminating the contents.
The cost of food that has to be thrown away because of contamination by pests, added to the food they have actually consumed, can represent a significant financial loss for retailers.
Non-food items are at risk too. Insects and rodents can nibble through fabrics that include cotton, wool, and also leather. Clothes damaged by pests are likely to be unsellable, with a direct impact on your bottom line.
Damaged facilities
Rodents can gnaw through a wide range of materials, even metal. As a result, they can inflict costly damage on walls, doors, pipes, packing cases, lifting machinery and electrical equipment.
A dented reputation
Sightings of cockroaches, rodents and other pests are a sign of poor hygiene. Just seeing one rat in the supermarket car park may deter a customer from returning there for their groceries. And a shopper coming across a cockroach in a changing room is unlikely to enjoy the experience. Before you know it, you are losing business that might be difficult to recover.
Legal risk
Food retail businesses are the last link in the food chain. As such, they need to satisfy regulatory authorities that the products they offer are fit for consumption. Pest infestations are the most common reasons for a failed environmental health inspection and failure to comply with hygiene standards can lead to the closure of a business.
Benefits to use BASF products
Tried and trusted solutions from BASF
When it comes to tackling severe rodent or insect infestations in retail businesses, pest controllers turn to tried and trusted solutions. BASF products combine effective active ingredients, innovative formulations and application systems that are easy to use.
BASF products for professionals
Pest control requires professional expertise and effective treatment programmes. With BASF pest control solutions, retailers can be sure that the pros are using highly effective products, designed for quick and efficient control.
