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Cereal Company Tackles Flour Beetles, Reduces Customer Complaints
The Situation
A large cereal manufacturing and packaging plant was experiencing infestations of flour beetles throughout the year with larger spikes in the warm summer months, resulting in increased consumer complaints. Their former pest management company was performing annual fumigations to control the beetles, costing them $50,000/year and requiring them to shut down the plant for several days.
By implementing the proactive Stored Product Pest programme, the customer reduced customer complaints by 30%.
The Solutions
The plant partnered with Ecolab to develop a proactive solution to their beetle infestation. The solution included:
- Pheromone monitoring
- Establishing thresholds
- Tracking trending data
- Increased sanitation procedures
- Developing escalation plans
They moved from a monthly pest service to a weekly service, allowing Ecolab to pinpoint the source of pest activity. If thresholds were exceeded, the Ecolab team serviced the area using a residual crevice and crack treatment - taking 3 hours, and performed on a Sunday when the plant was not operating.
The Results
Reduced Customer Complaints by 30%
By implementing the proactive Stored Product Pest programme, the customer reduced customer complaints by 30%. The company was able to drive down the pest activity and eliminate the need for fumigation procedures - there has not been a structural fumigation in the plant since the programme was implemented. The cereal plant was able to justify improved sanitation procedures by hiring a new sanitation management position using the cost savings from eliminating fumigation.
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