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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
As the Senate Agriculture Committee moves to mark up the revised Agricultural Act of 2026, the National Young Farmers Coalition is criticizing the omission of land access programs and SNAP funding, urging lawmakers to restore key support for early-career producers.
Onza Corp.’s FreshSure technology converts volatile ozone gas into a stable, USDA-organic solid crystal matrix offering scalable sachets that achieve up to log-five pathogen reductions and extend produce shelf life by up to nine days.
By leveraging viral social campaigns, smarter cross-merchandising, dual-pack sizing and modernized farming technology, the industry is aligning from screen to shelf to drive long-term category growth among younger consumers.
By tailoring seed genetics to solve back-of-house labor shortages, reduce kitchen waste and potentially extend shelf life, Bayer Vegetable Seeds is demonstrating that the battle for commercial kitchen profitability begins long before produce reaches the prep table.
From funding global clean water initiatives to establishing early taste preferences in toddlers, produce marketers are leveraging authentic purpose and long-term habits to build lasting brand connections.
To capture budget-conscious shoppers during the back-to-school reset, produce brands and grocery chains are leveraging price drops, digital meal-planning tech and experience-driven merchandising to prove their value.
By combining hands-on climate resilience trials with cooperative aggregation strategies, Chatham University’s Eden Hall Campus is demonstrating how regional specialty crop producers can scale up to meet commercial buyers’ standards without incurring massive financial risk.
As families re-establish hectic autumn routines, leading produce brands and grocers are capturing market share by targeting parents with problem-solving convenience, budget-friendly flexibility, purpose-driven messaging and early habit formation.
By tailoring price drops to individual fruits and vegetables rather than entire aisles, grocers can protect profits, cut food waste and keep fresh produce affordable.
As the U.S. faces a record-breaking cyclospora outbreak, greenhouse operators and CEA leaders highlight how closed-loop water treatment, enclosed environments and supply chain transparency offer a safer path forward for salad greens.