Last year, small fly control services generated 4.7 percent of revenue on average at U.S. pest control company locations, according to the 2023 PCT State of the Small Fly Control Market survey.
“It’s not a big part of the business,” admitted Adam Woodard, technical director, J&J Exterminating.
That said, it is a necessary service, especially at commercial accounts where small flies are encountered most often, he said.
The commercial market generated the most revenue for small fly control services in 2022, confirmed 60 percent of PMPs in the PCT survey.
Thirty-eight percent said small fly services became more significant to the business over the past five years, while 45 percent said this work was neither more nor less important.
From a customer standpoint, small fly services often aren’t top-of-mind until issues arise.
“Small flies are a funny thing in that they’re really significant when they’re a problem but when they’re not a problem, people don’t think about them,” said Ryan Gates, technical services manager, Versacor.
For clients involved in food prep, however, it’s not an issue of if they’ll get a small fly problem but when.
“The nature of the commercial food industry and the restaurant industry is that small flies are an inevitability,” said Gates.
In the next year, most PMPs (55 percent) said they expected revenue from small fly control services to remain steady at their locations.
“I don’t foresee it changing a whole lot other than it will always be there,” said Woodard of his clients’ need for these services.
Thirty-nine percent of PMPs, however, said they expected small fly revenue to increase.
One of them is Nate Heider, regional manager, Spidexx Pest Control. With its sister companies, Spidexx operates in seven states and is actively growing its commercial client roster.
“As we get more commercial, it definitely will be a larger portion of the business,” said Heider.
More than three quarters (78 percent) of pest control companies offered small fly control services, found the PCT survey.
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