Former Giant Company president joins food waste firm’s advisory board

Dive Brief:

Food waste prevention technology company Divert has named Nicholas Bertram, former president of The Giant Company, as the founding member of its advisory board, according to a Thursday press release.
While at Giant, Bertram grew the grocery chain’s efforts to cut waste, in part by furthering the retailer’s partnership with Divert, he said in an interview
The former Giant president told Grocery Dive he plans to bring his retail experience to the company and to “continue being part of the solution.”

Dive Insight:

Bertram joins Divert as the food waste company is establishing a new advisory board to navigate its nationwide expansion. Board members will be tasked with overseeing corporate strategy, product development, marketing, research and analyzing results, per the announcement.

Divert is “actively working to bring on additional advisors that mirror our shared commitment to building a healthier, more sustainable future,” Divert CEO and co-founder Ryan Begin said in a statement.

The company has grown its retail customer base by around 35% in 2022 to include approximately 5,400 stores, according to the announcement. Divert’s mission involves collecting food that cannot be sold or donated and creating advanced technologies and sustainable infrastructure to reduce waste.

Bertram became president of The Giant Company in January 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile, and remained in that role at the Ahold Delhaize-owned chain until resigning in late August 2022. Earlier in his career, Bertram served as an executive of Jewel-Osco and held a variety of roles at Walmart.

Giant began working with Divert in 2016, and the companies deepened their partnership when he was president of the grocer as concern over the impact of food waste picked up “critical mass,” Bertram said.

“When the opportunity came to start working with [Divert] as an advisor… it just made a lot of sense to me because of my passion inside the space,” Bertram said.

Bertram also holds a non-executive role on the advisory board of Peco, an electricity and natural gas supplier based in Philadelphia.