How to Keep Flies Away from Catering Food Outdoors
When it comes to outdoor catering events, dealing with pesky flies can be a major challenge.
These unwanted guests not only pose hygiene risks but can also ruin the dining experience for your guests. However, fret not! In this article, we will explore ten effective strategies to keep flies at bay and ensure that your catering food remains fresh and fly-free throughout the event.
For our catering events, we use two specific tools to limit the amount of flies in the catering area and the actual food. But there are a few more strategies that you can use, which we’ll cover as well.
1.) Fly fans
Our first line of defense is to keep the flies from flying near, and on the food. For this purpose, we use fly fans, with each fan placed between food items. This type of placement covers all of the food stations.
Fly fans are small, light, portable, quiet, and most importantly – effective!
You place a handful of these fans around the food, and turn them on. The fan blades create just enough airflow to disrupt flies and keep them away from the food. These fans use soft blades that won’t hurt when touched and are safe, even for kids. And they are quiet – you barely notice that they’re there.
2. Electronic Fly Traps
The fly fans are our number one option and are generally enough to keep most flies away.
But there are times when the amount of flies is just too much for the fans to handle. On a hot night, there seems to be a never-ending onslaught of flies. For these occasions, the second tool that we use to keep flies away from food is an electronic fly trap.
Generally speaking, we place 2 fly traps per food station and leave them on for the duration of the event. These traps are amazingly effective for two reasons
- They tend to distract the flies away from the food.
- Once the flies are trapped inside, it severely limits the amount of flies flying around the food stations.
3. Cover Food With Mesh Covers
We rarely resort to this method, as it ruins the aesthetics of the food station. As professional caterers, our focus is on food that tastes good, but also on the artistic presentation of that food.
But as a last-ditch effort, placing mesh covers over the food does work. Mesh covers are light, portable, and very easy to use. They aren’t the prettiest option, but they are effective.
4. Use Citronella Candles
Again, not the prettiest option. But again, they do work and they are relatively cheap.
These handy little candles are infused with citronella oil, a natural insect repellent derived from the leaves and stems of certain plants. The strong scent of citronella acts as a powerful deterrent for flies, making them think twice before buzzing around your space.
So how exactly do you use citronella candles to repel flies?
Just light up the candle and place it in an area where flies tend to gather. As the candle burns, it releases the fragrant aroma of citronella into the air, creating a barrier that flies find unpleasant.
5. Optimize Waste Management
Every little bit helps when you’re fighting flies. A well-rounded fly strategy relies on multiple methods, and maintaining the trash is one of them!
Properly dispose of food waste in sealed bins away from the food stations as much as possible. And regularly empty and clean these bins during the event. This will limit the amount of food smell in the air which attracts the flies.
6. Utilize natural fly repellents
We’ve discussed the tools to use to repel flies. But there are some natural fly repellents at our disposal too.
Essential oils – Lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint, and lemongrass – are just some of the essential oils that repel flies naturally. Rub a few drops around dishes, bowls, or risers in the food stations. They will work quietly, and invisibly.
Basil – Flies don’t like the smell of basil. A few leaves as a garnish will also repel flies.
Mint – The same goes for mint! Flies also hate the smell of mint, so garnish with a few mint leaves where appropriate.
7. Circulating Fans
For a full-prong approach, place some circulating fans around the perimeter of the food station. Just like the fly fans, circulating fans also disrupt flies by creating a breeze that makes it difficult for them to fly, and land on the food.
By implementing these seven strategies, you can ensure that your outdoor catering events are not only visually appealing but also hygienic and enjoyable for all attendees.
The seven steps that we laid out will severely limit the amount of flies around the food, and keep them from landing on the food if they do manage to get near the food stations.
Just keep in mind that a combination of the steps above will work much better than any one strategy by itself.