Nick Whitman of Divert on Food Waste, Renewable Energy, and Impact Technology

Nick Whitman, co-founder and COO of Divert Inc, joins the podcast to talk about food waste, renewable energy, and impact technology with host Conor Gaughan.
🎙 Nick Whitman of Divert on Food Waste, Renewable Energy, and Impact Technology, Consensus in Conversation Season 2, Episode 35
Today's guest is Nick Whitman, co-founder and COO of Divert.
In 2007, Nick and co-founder Ryan Begin launched Divert with a simple, bold mission in mind: eliminate food waste. Since then, the firm has processed over 2.3 billion pounds of food waste, donated more than 10 million meals to the food insecure, and continues to develop new, innovative technologies.
Nick has spent 16 years successfully scaling Divert to new heights, creating a first-of-its-kind food waste converter, designing and building a processing facility for Kroger, and revolutionizing food waste logistics.
As you’ll hear, Nick is a treasure trove of business knowledge for aspiring founders, and just an all around fun guy to talk with - listen in on your favorite podcast platform.
Episode Highlights
(0:00) Nick Whitman on recycling
(1:00) Conor introduces Nick and Divert
(3:15) Growing up, business school, and energy
(8:16) Origin story of Divert
(13:42) Food waste and anaerobic digestion
(15:49) Logistics and early growth
(19:29) Divert’s technology
(22:21) Stakeholders and policy
(24:09) Getting the first yes and building momentum
(26:49) Aligning profit with purpose
(31:28) Sustainability and natural gas
(34:54) Advice for future founders and growth mindset
(38:06) Finding optimism
(41:12) Conclusion and end credits
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Consensus in Conversation is hosted and executive produced by Conor Gaughan. This episode was produced by Will Gatchel and Geoff Rock, with editing from Reasonable Volume.
Special thanks to the Consensus team, including Creative Director, Kate Tucker, Greg Herrigel on research, and Patrick Gallagher on strategy.
Consensus in Conversation is a podcast by Consensus Digital Media produced in association with Reasonable Volume.