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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
Nature’s Frequencies is targeting produce spoilage with its patented Food Freshness Card, a chemical-free, passive technology designed to extend shelf life and deliver a full return on investment in under four months without altering standard cold-chain operations.
Driven by an unusually warm spring that accelerated bloom cycles across the state, California growers are entering fall harvest several weeks ahead of schedule while delivering standout sweetness, classic sizing and high fruit quality.
Advanced nutrient analysis is giving fresh produce growers the hard data they need to prove soil health directly translates to superior crop quality, opening the door for better margins at retail.
In an interview with The Packer, Tal Shoshan, founder and CEO of FiveStar Gourmet Foods, details how high-tech automation, enhanced food safety systems and long-term private independence are powering the company’s first-quarter 2027 Midwest expansion.
The Transfarmation Project has unveiled its second demonstration hub in Iowa, where the Faaborg family transformed a 30-year hog farming operation into a thriving specialty mushroom business.
Micropep submitted U.S. and EU regulatory dossiers for its peptide biofungicide Promisin, giving produce growers a residue-free tool to combat fungal diseases in grapes and potatoes.
New data show the cyclospora outbreak is driving a widespread pullback across the fresh produce aisle — even for non-recalled categories — triggering the sharpest single-month retail lettuce price drop in BLS history.
While viral memes mock male shoppers for baffling grocery substitutions, Instacart platform metrics and national consumer data from The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2026 demonstrate that men are becoming discerning, quality-focused power buyers.
In a SciLine media briefing, food safety experts explain how the unique biology of cyclospora, complex supply chains and public health funding cuts hinder responses to ongoing produce contamination outbreaks.
USDA’s addition of watermelon rind to its official database provides retail dietitians, produce marketers and product developers with the standardized nutrition data needed to expand root-to-stem culinary strategies.