May 13, 2016 · Team HG
Fruit flies are a recurring annual problem for the hospitality industry. They circle the beer tap, drop into half-empty glasses, and in the worst case, drive guests away. Entrepreneur Ferdinand van der Neut has found a simple yet effective solution that works.
Many business owners suffer from this; one cannot scrub and polish enough to get rid of the fruit flies. They gather around the taps, near empty (beer) bottles and glasses, around espresso machines, and near trash cans. Guests sometimes associate this with the hygiene of the establishment, which can lead them to decide to leave.
Many types of attempts at solutions have been devised: red wine, commercial traps, professional pest control, but with little result. Ferdinand van der Neut (32), a TU Delft engineer, was at home for several months due to a knee injury and gradually came up with the Fruit Fly Ninja.
Lure for fruit flies
The Fruit Fly Ninja consists of a small, transparent bottle containing a lure irresistible to fruit flies. The flies crawl into the bottle through a special funnel and cannot get out. Because the bottle is transparent, the ‘catch’ is immediately visible.
That all sounds logical and hardly groundbreaking. So why is this solution so much better than existing fruit fly traps? According to the Amsterdam engineer, there are two reasons. “First, this small trap has a double-sided sticker, allowing you to stick it anywhere. Fruit flies often sit high on the walls, so you can place it much closer to the source of the nuisance. And second, the lure is much stronger. I have tested countless lures, and I dare say that this is the best lure in the world. It is a combination of fruit juice, apple cider vinegar, and a type of yeast.”
An additional advantage for hospitality businesses is that the Fruit Fly Ninja can be hung out of sight of customers thanks to the small bottle. René Groot of the DoubleTree Hilton hotel in Amsterdam: “A problem area for us is the drip tray of the coffee machine, where some water often remains. We have now very discreetly hung a Fruit Fly Ninja on the back of it.” Mieke Spelde, owner of Café Schoten in Haarlem, has also attached one to the tap without the guests noticing.
Hygiene
Van der Neut emphasizes that hanging up Ninjas alone is not enough. “If there is a trash can with rotting fruit somewhere, our trap won't work. It goes hand in hand with hygiene.”
In addition to many hospitality establishments, the COOP supermarket chain has also been using the Fruit Fly Ninja since last year to keep their juicers fruit fly-free.
For more information and to order online, see www.fruitflyninja.com.
Fruit Fly Ninja instruction video (example: trash can)
Photo: Fruit Fly Ninja Website (Photographer: Rob de Jong)
