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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
Driven by consumer demands for authentic global flavor profiles and clean-label nutrition, leading refrigerated dip and dressing brands are partnering with retailers to transform the category into an indispensable everyday meal solution.
Grounded in a millennia-old legacy of Indigenous stewardship and unique regional pride, Maine’s native lowbush barrens face a turning point as local growers battle climate whiplash and infrastructure shortages to ensure this irreplaceable crop remains a thriving, working landscape.
By eliminating the manual blind spots of traditional tracking, real-time wireless automation is helping retailers protect fresh food quality and slash spoilage.
After intense social media backlash over microscopic stock and confusing digital checkout lines, Aldi is attempting to make amends by dropping 5,000 additional “Encore” Blind Boxes on Friday.
Driven by a consumer desire for health, sustainability and transparency, the sector is experiencing remarkable market growth, which growers are meeting through third-party certifications, supply chain management and high-volume, reliable retail programs.
While shoppers often believe their grocery choices are entirely rational, neuromarketing reveals that subconscious emotional impulses and evolutionary instincts dictate what they buy long before they ever reach for an item.
Frustrated shoppers took to social media to call out the grocery retailer after waiting in digital checkout lines for up to 45 minutes, only to find out the highly anticipated free boxes had vanished in seconds.
By shifting raw honeycomb into the fresh produce section, retailers can build a high-margin category that injects new revenue directly to domestic beekeepers currently being pushed out of business by fraudulent liquid honey imports.
According to a new Logile survey, retail grocers can unlock a powerful competitive advantage and secure customer loyalty by prioritizing excellent, well-stocked produce departments over aggressive price discounting.
A new Instacart report mapping multiyear grocery purchase data shows that while high-profile favorites like corn and stone fruit trigger hyperspecific seasonal spikes, year-round staples like limes quietly drive summer produce volumes.