Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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What to do about fruit flies? (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by violetskies7
My store currently has a huge fruit fly problem. I’m talking 100s of fruit flies throughout the store. They mostly gather around cold bar near the refresher sink where there’s fruit out.
We’ve tried bleaching the sink and drain but it didn’t work. Our SM hasn’t done anything about it yet as far as I know. I’ll check My Daily next time I’m in to be sure, but I’m pretty sure nobody has been called.
A customer got a fruit fly in their drink today. How can I get this problem fixed? Clearly my SM knows about the problem and is doing nothing so I’m not sure where to go from here.
We’ve tried bleaching the sink and drain but it didn’t work. Our SM hasn’t done anything about it yet as far as I know. I’ll check My Daily next time I’m in to be sure, but I’m pretty sure nobody has been called.
A customer got a fruit fly in their drink today. How can I get this problem fixed? Clearly my SM knows about the problem and is doing nothing so I’m not sure where to go from here.
colonade17 4 points 2y ago
You can have an exterminator come in, but they'll get the bugs you have now, not the ones that will keep coming back later. You have to be proactive about cleaning. Don't let the fruit flies have food or water.
1. clean drains every night
2. clean sinks after peak and at close. No berries in the sink overnight
3. cover your inclusions in plastic wrap overnight
4. don't pre-close too early. If your bar gets covered in syrup by close you'll have to clean it all over again. My store actually eliminated most of pre-close and pushed those tasks to closing.
5. Make sure there's no crumbs hiding under fridges and cabinets.
1. clean drains every night
2. clean sinks after peak and at close. No berries in the sink overnight
3. cover your inclusions in plastic wrap overnight
4. don't pre-close too early. If your bar gets covered in syrup by close you'll have to clean it all over again. My store actually eliminated most of pre-close and pushed those tasks to closing.
5. Make sure there's no crumbs hiding under fridges and cabinets.
violetskies7 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
just a question about cleaning the drains- how do you do this effectively? i know for a fact many inclusions get washed down the drain and are probably stuck in there which is where the fruit flies are laying eggs.
we do clean everything at close because my store is actually always busy up until close, and fifteen minutes before close most customers are coming to drive thru to get multiple refreshers and/or frappuccinos.
the cold bar is deep cleaned by the openers, at close we clean all small wares, wipe the counters, clean the sink and empty teas etc. we don’t sanitize the syrup risers because we simply do not have the time to do so at night
we do clean everything at close because my store is actually always busy up until close, and fifteen minutes before close most customers are coming to drive thru to get multiple refreshers and/or frappuccinos.
the cold bar is deep cleaned by the openers, at close we clean all small wares, wipe the counters, clean the sink and empty teas etc. we don’t sanitize the syrup risers because we simply do not have the time to do so at night
colonade17 2 points 2y ago
You should have a drain trap to capture the inclusions that get down the sink and prevents them from ending up in the drain. If you don't have them then you can order them. You should also have a plunger brush thing to get the drains. We spray them with restroom cleaner, and then pour sani down the drain.
I would swap cleaning of cold bar from the openers to the closers. Between close and open gives the flies a chance to eat and breed on the cold bar. I would find tasks to swap with the openers to give closers time to clean the risers and around the bar equipment. I suspect this could part of your fruit fly problem.
I would swap cleaning of cold bar from the openers to the closers. Between close and open gives the flies a chance to eat and breed on the cold bar. I would find tasks to swap with the openers to give closers time to clean the risers and around the bar equipment. I suspect this could part of your fruit fly problem.
violetskies7 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
okay, thank you. our sink has a small drain cap that stops the strawberries and blackberries, but dragonfruit and kiwi still fit through. is the drain trap further down or is ours just a bad size? i’m pretty sure it’s built into the sink as well.. so no removing to clean the drains
perhaps we can change the floors to be an opener task and have cold bar be done at night instead. but this would leave debris under fridges that could also cause the flies. there aren’t any other tasks i can think of that we can delegate.
perhaps we can change the floors to be an opener task and have cold bar be done at night instead. but this would leave debris under fridges that could also cause the flies. there aren’t any other tasks i can think of that we can delegate.
AvoFromCado 3 points 2y ago
Definitely call an exterminator but in the mean time keep cleaning everything! Is there’s a small area being missed? Under the counters? Drain? Also look at the blender because I heard a weird story from another partner about flies coming from there 🤢 good luck!
lexibelles 1 points 2y ago
my store has this problem and when someone came out to help she told us we just don't clean well enough and its our fault.
This is what we do:
- bleach and then clean sinks right before close
- bleach and then clean drains right before close
- wrap inclusions with plastic wrap
- cover ALL syrups and pumps with plastic wrap
- Letting the pasty case soak in cleaner for like 30 minutes before we wipe down
- take everything out from under counters (fridges, prep cart, whatever you have at your store) and spray the hell out of it
- Make sure you wipe the cold brew and nitro taps because I have found them on there too.
- Make sure you clean behind any stands that hold teas or iced coffees.
and i'm sure theres more i'm forgetting because I haven't closed in a couple weeks but thats all the stuff we do because no one will help us😭🙃
This is what we do:
- bleach and then clean sinks right before close
- bleach and then clean drains right before close
- wrap inclusions with plastic wrap
- cover ALL syrups and pumps with plastic wrap
- Letting the pasty case soak in cleaner for like 30 minutes before we wipe down
- take everything out from under counters (fridges, prep cart, whatever you have at your store) and spray the hell out of it
- Make sure you wipe the cold brew and nitro taps because I have found them on there too.
- Make sure you clean behind any stands that hold teas or iced coffees.
and i'm sure theres more i'm forgetting because I haven't closed in a couple weeks but thats all the stuff we do because no one will help us😭🙃
violetskies7 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
thank you, appreciate it🥺
0511pizza 1 points 2y ago
we used peppermint essential oil! learned it from another location
pinkbunny002 1 points 2y ago
District manager. If that doesn’t work, go to the city for unhealthy/unclean food environment
jackissosick 1 points 2y ago
There's nothing you can do. You have to get an exterminator. Deep cleaning and fruit fly traps can help a little but if you have a ton you need to fumigate
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