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Jill Dutton

Jill Dutton, associate editor of The Packer, specializes in retail produce news, market trends and urban farming initiatives. With expertise in the rapidly evolving e-grocery landscape, she provides analysis on how digital platforms are reshaping food distribution. Jill is a prominent voice on sustainability and consumer trends, offering actionable insights that help businesses navigate shifting market demands. Her work explores the full produce journey — from farm to retail — featuring grower profiles, supply chain insights and emerging production models that shape American food systems.

Latest Stories
From high-margin specialty items like tamale kits and exotic fruit boards to secondary walnut displays and aggressive fall price cuts, produce marketers and grocers are positioning fresh produce at the center of holiday entertaining.
At Climate Week NYC, WRAP is demonstrating how collaborative Food Pacts and targeted interventions across retail supply chains and households transform perishable produce waste from a carbon burden into immediate financial savings.
The Packer’s Sustainability Insights 2026 shows retailers are pursuing sustainability to drive business efficiency, boost margins and strengthen supply reliability rather than depend on consumer premiums.
As growing numbers of Americans turn to short-term installment loans to offset persistent grocery inflation, forecasting strategist Marieke van der Poel explains how splitting food bills into micro-payments is altering consumer psychology, store inventory and the definition of everyday affordability.
To understand how deeply these cuts will reverberate across local economies, community leaders, independent business owners and growers share their firsthand perspectives on what is at stake.
Registrar Corp’s director of food safety explains how siloed records, rapid product turnover and incomplete traceback data make regulators unable to pinpoint root causes, leaving major foodborne outbreaks unresolved.
The produce recovery organization solves a challenge by redirecting truckload-scale commercial surplus to hunger relief networks, delivering 2.8 billion total servings of fresh fruits and vegetables to communities experiencing food insecurity.
Kroger and Hy-Vee are leveraging point-of-sale incentives and health-focused campaigns to drive consumer wellness, offering everything from fresh produce discounts and virtual dietitian access to heart-health fundraising at checkout.
The partnership brings automated defect detection and consistent, data-driven quality standards to Wish Farms’ berry operations.
Because fresh produce lacks long-term storage and futures hedging, retail buyers must ditch rigid sourcing calendars and build flexible supplier partnerships to navigate constant market shocks.