Fred Meyer Expands Organic Recycling to All Stores Across Pacific Northwest
Fred Meyer, a subsidiary of The Kroger Co., and Divert Inc., a circular-economy company on a mission to prevent food from being wasted, have expanded their organics-recycling program to support the entire Fred Meyer store footprint across the Pacific Northwest.
Since 2018, Divert and Fred Meyer have worked together to address the food waste crisis. In 2024 alone, the program prevented more than 5.4 million pounds of unsold food products from reaching landfills. Now, with Divert's organics-recycling program implemented across all 105 Fred Meyer grocery stores in Washington state and Oregon, the companies are further accelerating their positive environmental and social impact.
[RELALTED: Giant Food Takes 80M-Pound Bite Out of Food Waste]
“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.”
The program uses Divert’s proprietary process to more efficiently prevent unsold food from going to the landfill while keeping microplastics out of the soil. According to Divert, 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 data, Fred Meyer can identify patterns in unsold inventory, optimize ordering and also improve donation opportunities to feed more people in need.
“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, at West Concord, Mass.-based 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 and food donations, as well as operational efficiencies that drive meaningful cost and time savings.”
Divert is a portfolio company of Ara Partners, a global private-equity firm that is decarbonizing the industrial economy.
Fred Meyer operates approximately 130 multi-department stores across four western states. More than 33,000 Fred Meyer associates serve customers in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington state. The grocer donates more than 5 million pounds of food annually to local food banks through its Food Rescue Program. Its parent company, Cincinnati-based Kroger, serves more than 11 million customers daily through a digital shopping experience and retail food stores under a variety of banner names. The grocer is No. 4 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2025 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company among its Retailers of the Century.
