What is the scale of the problem?
The statement that ‘you are never more than six feet from a rat’ has largely been disproved. However, a recent article in The Sun highlighted the issue of ‘super rats’ being found in people’s houses: ‘Our estate is being terrorised by super-rats that destroy cars – even the CATS are too scared to go outside at night’. Further, one survey suggested around five per cent of commercial premises had rats present: ‘Are you never more than 6ft away from a rat?’ – BBC News.
One high profile case reported in the national news, resulted in a London franchised restaurant recently being shut and fined almost half a million pounds after a customer found mouse droppings in a burger.
Figures from Pest.co.uk also highlight that rodent problems are getting worse, particularly in our cities. During Covid, where less people were on the streets of the capital, London saw an increase of 23% in the rat population between 2019-2020.
How and why are pests a problem in a hygienic kitchen?
The challenge for QSR owners is that rats come out at night, and they are attracted by food. It’s a situation that is hard to monitor. Despite stringent hygiene controls, operators may not even realise they have a problem before it is too late, and issues can escalate quickly. According to Pest.co.uk, because of the speed that they breed, just two rats can grow to a population of 1,250 in one year.
Why consider modern technology to identify issues?
Modern CCTV cameras can be set up with motion detectors to highlight any issues. A good IP camera is needed, and a movement capture grid will record any unusual activity. However, operators usually haven’t got time to view all CCTV footage, so using a smart system where peaks of activity can be isolated and checked quickly on a timeline is helpful.
What else goes bump in the night?
The latest smart video systems can also provide insights into other back of house issues. Movement detectors can identify when staff arrive and leave for example. During out of hours, if the system picks up unusual patterns of movement of a more human-sized rat, this can trigger an alarm to help minimise any intruder theft or damage. With a back up battery, DTiQ’s smart video systems will continue to work for five minutes after they’ve been unplugged and so can be useful to identify perpetrators attempting to destroy CCTV evidence if necessary.
How can technology and artificial intelligence/machine learning help?
Artificial Intelligence or machine learning is usually used to highlight suspicious transactions. At DTiQ, we use exception based reporting to help identify and train the AI. Trends can then be tracked across multiple stores as well as individual transactions which can easily be identified, monitored and presented. Most of this is used for front-of-house transactional behaviour, however, analysis of data can be applied to many different scenarios as it identifies anything out of the ordinary. If you can see it we can measure it.
The great thing about video is that it provides proof. Multi-unit stores can be compared, and consistency and quality then applied across the estate. Also, video of examples of best practice can easily be shared with each location to help with staff training too.
What other uses do Smart Video Systems have?
With cost bases increasing and consumer spend decreasing due to concerns over the cost-of-living crisis, technology such as smart video systems can offer solutions to help operators work smarter not just harder. They offer the chance for business owners to reduce costs, protect eroding margins and maximise profitability.
This is achieved in part through smart system insights that help improve every aspect of a customer’s experience from the moment they enter the establishment. Smart surveillance systems can provide key metrics and reports on transaction times, customer conversion and employee behaviour to identify issues and other trends to enable positive action to be taken.
Often there is no need to upgrade current CCTV or EPOS to get on board with intelligent video, as the latest tech can work with existing infrastructure. DTiQ even offers SmartAudits to evaluate working practices remotely and provide data-driven insights to improve employee performance and company efficiency. The key is we can tailor our data analysis to suit a customer’s needs and so if they do think they have a ‘rat in their kitchen,’ even a human sized one, we can help identify the issue so it can be addressed swiftly.
Read more at https://www.foodserviceequipmentjournal.com/
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