A supermarket is a complex operating environment, presenting specialised cleaning challenges, as different areas of the store can be exposed to different types of traffic, food residues, spills, contaminants, and many can have different floor surfaces as well.
High-traffic areas such as entrances, aisles and checkouts require constant attention due to the sheer volume of customers, trolley movement, dirt and everyday spills. Floors are a key consideration because they must withstand heavy traffic while staying safe, clean, and well presented.
Food preparation and fresh-food departments add another layer of complexity, as butchery areas may involve animal fats, while bakeries deal with cooking oils, butter, cake mixes, and icing. Even saltwater spray from mussels and seafood can attack floor finishes and dull polished concrete over time.
Back-of-house food preparation, storage and pallet areas can also experience significant grease and soil build-up, making the correct choice and use of specialist degreasers essential.
Therefore, one of the biggest challenges for supermarkets is balancing hygiene, safety and presentation while the store continues to operate. This requires understanding different surfaces and contaminants, selecting the right cleaning chemistry and equipment, and running a structured programme that addresses both immediate cleaning needs and the store's longer-term care.
Jani-King’s retail offering goes well beyond day-to-day cleaning services, supporting a supermarket's customer experience, staff wellbeing, hygiene and safety requirements, and overall brand presentation.
Alongside routine cleaning, Jani-King provides specialist and periodic services such as hard-floor care and maintenance, window and exterior cleaning, back-of-house restroom and kitchen hygiene, high-touch disinfection, odour control, and scheduled deep cleans.
Ongoing floor maintenance is particularly important in retail environments, and regular polishing or diamond-pad treatments can help maintain a clean, high-quality finish, make day-to-day cleaning easier and more efficient, and extend flooring life.
Jani-King can also support wider workplace wellness objectives, including indoor air quality, through its eco-benign probiotic cleaning products, which help balance cleaning with sustainability and the wellbeing of the people using their stores every day.
Rather than relying solely on traditional chemical cleaning, probiotic products use naturally occurring beneficial bacteria that produce enzymes to break down dirt, grime and organic matter. Importantly, they continue working after the initial clean, helping to address the source of recurring odours rather than simply masking them.
The products can be used across a range of hard surfaces, including floors, countertops, and tiles, as well as for applications such as carpet and upholstery cleaning and odour control; they are readily biodegradable and low in toxicity, helping retailers reduce their environmental impact and reliance on harsher cleaning chemicals.
Additionally, rising labour and operating costs mean supermarkets need to make every cleaning hour as productive as possible through analysing store operations, identifying high- and low-demand areas, matching cleaning frequencies to actual need, and improving workflows so cleaning teams can work more efficiently.
“It is not about replacing every traditional cleaning or disinfection process. Supermarkets still have specific hygiene and food-safety requirements they must meet. Instead, probiotics can form part of a considered cleaning programme, using the right product for the right task,” said Nick James, CEO, Jani-King (NZ) Limited.
“Retailers can also gain efficiencies by looking at how cleaning fits around other store activities. For example, scheduling shelf replenishment and pallet movement to minimise overlap with major cleaning tasks gives cleaners clearer access to floors and work areas. This reduces the time spent working around staff, stock, pallet jacks and other equipment, allowing more cleaning to be completed within the same labour hours.”
Technology can add another layer of efficiency, and the collaboration between Datec Cobotics and Jani-King brings advanced automated cleaning technology to retail. Robotic cleaning equipment handles repetitive, predictable tasks like large-area floor cleaning, while people focus on areas where judgement, flexibility, and attention to detail are essential.
Datec Cobotics has changed how Jani-King delivers services across large retail spaces, moving away from thinking of automation as a replacement for cleaning teams and instead seeing robotic technology as another member of the team.
According to James, large retail spaces and supermarkets are particularly well suited to cobotic cleaning because they contain substantial areas of repetitive floor space. It can also provide greater consistency, with robots following programmed routes and processes shift after shift, while mapping, reporting, and performance data provide better visibility into where, when, and how cleaning has been completed.
The greatest benefits, James said, were found across large, open, high-traffic floor areas where cleaning is repetitive and predictable, as cobotics can make better use of available cleaning hours, reduce pressure on cleaning teams, and let skilled people spend more time on higher-value detailed cleaning tasks.
He added that floor cleaning was only the beginning of what automation can bring to commercial retail environments. Over time, he expects automation to extend beyond physical cleaning through better use of data, automated reporting, scheduling, and performance monitoring to understand how spaces are actually being used and adjust cleaning accordingly.
Ultimately, the greatest efficiencies come from viewing cleaning as part of the supermarket’s wider operation by aligning people, processes, technology, and store schedules. By bringing these services together, Jani-King can help retailers maintain not just a clean store, but a safer, healthier and better-presented environment that supports the wider operation of the business.
Get in touch for your next exceptional clean at 0800 526 454 or email commercialenquiries@janiking.co.nz
