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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
By training produce experts to identify and rescue fresh fruits and vegetables at their peak, Hannaford ensures that high-quality nutrition reaches local food banks and pantries instead of going to waste.
By funding the transition of thousands of acres to regenerative organic agriculture, Patagonia Provisions is leveraging its unique ownership model to protect the health of its own community and help local farmers break the cycle of chemical dependency.
Fermentation expert Scott Sheridan is transforming unused, flood-prone land into a regenerative 1-acre urban farm to demonstrate how soil health and local food production can solve broken water cycles and mounting food insecurity.
Marking its centennial and the opening of a new headquarters, Duda is leveraging its recognition as a Florida Century Pioneer Family Farm to bridge a legacy of stewardship with future-focused innovations in sustainable ag and master-planned development.
According to a 2026 food waste report, U.S. surplus food dropped by 2.2% in 2024 to 70 million tons, largely due to a nearly 950,000-ton reduction in residential waste as Americans found new ways to extend their grocery budgets.
Dole is celebrating its 125th Pineapple Crowning Anniversary in 2026 with a year-long campaign of events and digital content, highlighted by the success of its award-winning, coconut-flavored Colada Royale pineapple.
The expanded collaboration brings the surplus grocery app to over 100 stores across four states, offering shoppers deep discounts on fresh food while diverting waste from landfills.
An Iowa State University team has developed an AI companion that uses a database of over 31 million images and conversational technology to provide farmers with real-time identification and expert management advice for insects and weeds.
Industry experts emphasize that winning Cinco de Mayo 2026 requires a complete-solution approach, leveraging high-impact cross-merchandising, perfect ripeness and a strategic two-week promotional window.
Eating a wide variety of fermentable fibers acts like a natural volume dial for the body’s satiety hormones, effectively triggering the same GLP-1 pathways as modern metabolic medications right from the produce aisle.