Divert expands retail presence in Pacific Northwest

Divert Inc., a Concord, Massachusetts-based food scraps collector and processor, is in the process of expanding its organics collection program to have a presence in all 105 Fred Meyer grocery and dry goods stores in Oregon and Washington.

The Fred Meyer Stores chain, a business unit of Kroger, operates more than 130 retail locations in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington in the Pacific Northwest.

“Fred Meyer and Kroger have been valued customers of Divert for many years, and we are proud to expand our collaboration to further advance the impact of our food diversion and recovery efforts,” Divert Vice President Ben Kuethe Oaks says.

“With Divert now supporting Fred Meyer across its entire store network, we are bringing increased visibility to each and every store–unlocking new opportunities for waste prevention, food donations, as well as operational efficiencies that drive meaningful cost and time savings."

Divert has been working with Fred Meyer since 2018. Last year, the two firms combined to prevent more than 2,700 tons of unsold food products from reaching the landfill, according to Divert.

In addition to the landfill diversion benefits, Divert says its process leads to the collection of “actionable store-level data" from its bins, providing Fred Meyer with increased visibility into opportunities to reduce waste and improve food recovery efforts.

“At Fred Meyer, we are committed to sustainability and ending food waste,” Fred Meyer President Todd Kammeyer says. “By integrating Divert's cutting-edge food recycling technology into our stores, we are making it easier to reduce waste in our stores.”

Divert, which was founded in 2007, is a portfolio company of Ara Partners, a Houston-based private equity firm that focuses on decarbonizing the industrial economy.