Safeway Increases Northern California Food Donations by 20% in Three Months with Optimization Solution from Divert, Inc. (2024)

Safeway Increases Northern California Food Donations by 20% in Three Months with Optimization Solution from Divert, Inc.

Retailer leverages Divert’s proprietarydata, waste reduction and food recovery strategies to meetstate-led organic waste recovery goals

Divert, Inc., an impact technology company on a mission toProtect the Value of Food™, and Safeway, the leading banneroperated by Albertsons Companies, today announced results from theimplementation of Divert’s optimization solution to reduce wastedfood and accelerate food recovery efforts. In three months, Safewayincreased its food donations by 20%, reducing the edible food goingto waste by an average of 1,252 pounds per store per month. Throughleveraging Divert’s proprietary data and identifying root causes ofwasted food from an operational perspective, Divert has empoweredthe retailer to improve its food donation program.

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“Safeway is committed to help put food on the table to nourishour neighbors in need,” said Karl Schroeder, President of Safeway’sNorthern California Division. “Divert is a critical partner inhelping us increase our food recovery efforts, sharing strategiesand key insights across our business to drive immediate results. Wevalue their tailored, collaborative approach to food recovery.”

California businesses are striving to comply with the state’sSenate Bill (SB) 1383 legislation to reduce organic waste disposalby 75% and increase edible food recovery statewide by 2025. Safewayturned to Divert in early 2024 to implement solutions to optimizeits wasted food prevention and food recovery to feed more people inneed. In collaborating with Divert, Safeway has been able tosignificantly increase its donations to the local Alameda CountyCommunity Food Bank in just a few months.

“One in four residents in our community is experiencing orat-risk of hunger,” says Alameda County Community Food Bank, whichdistributes food to 400 food pantries and other non-profits in theCalifornia Bay Area. “Divert and Safeway share our commitment totackling food insecurity and pursuing a hunger-free community. Thecollective work with these incredible partners has made asignificant impact on increasing our food donations, helping usprovide nearly 1 million meals worth of food to our community everyweek. Together we are working toward a more nourished AlamedaCounty where no child or adult needs to worry where their next mealis coming from.”

Divert’s field team works hand-in-hand with Safeway and AlamedaCounty Community Food Bank employees, including implementing wastereduction and food recovery strategies tailored to the store’soperation needs. At the start of the program, Divert analyzedSafeway’s current donation performance and then used Divert’sproprietary data to uncover new opportunities for waste reduction.Divert’s diversion specialists are able to identify and facilitatejoint initiatives between Safeway and its donation partners,creating a customized optimization playbook to empower them toincrease food recovery efforts. Together, Divert and Safeway canstrategically execute campaigns at the stores with the greatestfood recovery potential within each division, continually measuringperformance to track progress.

“To truly have an impact on the wasted food crisis, we need tocollectively work together across the value chain,” said Ben KuetheOaks, VP of Customer Solutions & Success, Divert. “Safeway isat the forefront of this effort and an example to Californians ofhow to effectively bring together technology, infrastructure, andpolicy to significantly reduce organic waste and get food tocommunities in need.”

These results from Divert’s optimization solution implementationwith Safeway are for a selection of stores in its NorthernCalifornia division. The program is continuing to expand toadditional stores and regions with the greatest opportunity. Tolearn more about how the optimization solution helped Safeway wasteless and donate more, download the full case study here.

About Divert, Inc.

Divert, Inc. is an impact technology company on a mission toProtect the Value of Food™. Founded in 2007, the company createsadvanced technologies and sustainable infrastructure to eliminatewasted food, driving social and environmental impact. Divertprovides an end-to-end solution that prevents waste by maximizingthe freshness of food, recovers edible food to serve communities inneed, and converts wasted food into renewable energy. The companyworks with over 6,600 customer locations across the U.S. to reducewasted food and positively impact people and the environment. Theircustomer base spans across industries and includes five Fortune 100companies. For more information on Divert, Inc., please visitwww.divertinc.com.

About Safeway

Safeway is one of the most well-recognized grocery retail brandswith a long-standing reputation for quality and service, proudlyserving Northern California since 1926. Today, the company operates290 stores across Northern California, Nevada, and Hawaii, underfour banners, including Andronico’s, Safeway, Pak N’ Save, andVons. In 2023, the Safeway Northern California Division donatedmore than $40 million in food and financial support to charitableorganizations in the communities it serves. Safeway is a divisionof Albertsons Companies.

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