January 24, 2024
Divert, Inc., an impact technology company on a mission to Protect the Value of Food™, today announced the expansion of its executive leadership team with the appointment of Bob Watkins as Chief Information Officer (CIO).
Watkins brings over 25 years of global experience to his role at Divert. Throughout his career, he’s worked with startups to Fortune 50 companies and across a range of industries including medical devices, electronics, materials, engineering and manufacturing. His leadership experience heading up teams across multiple functions includes information technology, supply chain, product marketing and engineering.
Most recently Watkins served as the Chief Business and Technology Officer at Triumvirate Environmental, leading their IT, Training, and Supply Chain functions. Before Triumvirate, Watkins worked as the CIO and CTO for Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc. He has also held leadership positions at Smith & Nephew, Johnson Controls, General Electric and SABIC.
“Divert is an industry leader tackling wasted food by changing the grocery retail supply chain, mitigating harmful emissions and rethinking our energy sources,” Watkins said. “I am excited to advance Divert’s already cutting-edge solutions, and work on a mission I believe in.”
Watkins joins Divert during a state of rapid growth. Their headcount has increased by over 25% to over 300 in 2023. In his role as CIO, Watkins will prepare Divert to scale its 30 facilities by further digitizing Divert’s business and developing its digital wasted food platform.
“We are in a strong position to accelerate our efforts to eliminate wasted food in 2024 and Bob will be an invaluable addition given his process improvement, manufacturing, supply chain and product development experience.,” said Ryan Begin, CEO and co-founder of Divert. “Bob brings decades of experience advancing information, data, and analytics capabilities, and we look forward to him joining our leadership team.”
Watkins holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Massachusetts.
About Divert, Inc.
Divert, Inc. is an impact technology company on a mission to Protect the Value of Food™. Founded in 2007, the company creates advanced technologies and sustainable infrastructure to eliminate wasted food, driving social and environmental impact. Divert provides an end-to-end solution that prevents waste by maximizing the freshness of food, recovers edible food to serve communities in need, and converts wasted food into renewable energy. The company works with five Fortune 100 companies and nearly 5,400 retail stores across the U.S., helping food retailers to reach their sustainability goals. For more information on Divert, Inc., please visit www.divertinc.com.
