June 23, 2025
Divert, Inc., a circular economy company on a mission to prevent food from being wasted, and Fred Meyer Stores, a subsidiary of The Kroger Co., today announced the expansion of their organics recycling program to support the entire Fred Meyer store footprint across 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,” said Ben Kuethe Oaks, VP and GM, Retail, Divert. “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.”
Since 2018, Divert and Fred Meyer have worked together to address the wasted food crisis. In 2024 alone, the program prevented more than 5.4 million pounds of unsold food products from reaching the landfill. Now, with Divert’s organics recycling program implemented across all 105 Fred Meyer stores in Washington and Oregon, the companies are further accelerating their positive environmental and social impact.
The program utilizes Divert’s proprietary process to more efficiently prevent unsold food from going to the landfill, while keeping microplastics out of our soil. The process improves the employee experience while also creating significant efficiencies and time savings. In addition, Divert collects actionable store-level data from its bins, providing Fred Meyer with increased visibility into opportunities to reduce waste and improve food recovery efforts. With Divert’s valuable data, Fred Meyer is able to identify patterns in unsold inventory, optimize ordering, and also improve donation opportunities to feed more people in need.
“At Fred Meyer, we are committed to sustainability and ending food waste. Our new partnership with Divert is a significant step forward in our journey towards a more sustainable future,” said Todd Kammeyer, President of Fred Meyer. “By integrating Divert’s cutting-edge food recycling technology into our stores, we are making it easier to reduce waste in our stores.”
About Divert
Divert is a circular economy company on a mission to prevent food from being wasted through nationwide infrastructure and innovative technologies. Founded in 2007, the company provides an end-to-end solution that leverages data to prevent waste, facilitates edible food recovery to provide to people in need, and transforms unsold food products into renewable energy to power communities. Through this integrated approach to reducing wasted food–Prevent, Provide, Power™–Divert works with customers across the U.S. to reduce wasted food and positively impact people and the environment. Divert is a portfolio company of Ara Partners, a global private equity firm that is decarbonizing the industrial economy. For more information on Divert, Inc., please visit www.divertinc.com and follow the company on LinkedIn, X, Threads, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
About Fred Meyer
Fred Meyer Stores operates 132 multi-department stores across four western states, providing one-stop shopping with over 250,000 products under one roof. More than 33,000 Fred Meyer associates serve customers in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Each year, Fred Meyer contributes nearly $5 million to Northwest communities through grants, product donations, and sponsorships. Additionally, we donate over 5 million pounds of food annually to local food banks through our Food Rescue Program. For more information, please visit our website at www.fredmeyer.com.
About Ara Partners
Ara Partners is a global private equity and infrastructure investment firm focused on industrial decarbonization. Founded in 2017, Ara Partners seeks to build and scale companies with significant decarbonization impact across the industrial and manufacturing, chemicals and materials, energy efficiency and green fuels, and food and agriculture sectors. The company operates from offices in Houston, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Dublin. Ara Partners closed its third private equity fund in December 2023 with over $2.8 billion in capital commitments. As of December 31, 2024, Ara Partners had approximately $6.2 billion of assets under management. For more information about Ara Partners, please visit www.arapartners.com.
Divert Media Contact
Caroline Legg
Director of Public Relations
(203) 313-4228
clegg@divertinc.com
Fred Meyer Media Contact
Tiffany Sanders
Fred Meyer Corporate Affairs Manager
(425) 753-0633
tiffany.sanders@fredmeyer.com
