Jessica Howlett

Jessica Howlett serves as a key procurement professional within the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where she manages acquisitions critical to the nation’s food assistance programs. Her work centers on securing processed agricultural commodities—including canned, frozen, and dried fruits and vegetables—to ensure a reliable, shelf-stable supply for federal nutrition initiatives. She oversees full lifecycle contracting activities, from market research and solicitation development to award and performance monitoring, with a focus on maintaining compliance with federal food safety and quality standards. Her acquisitions directly support AMS’s mission to strengthen nutrition security for vulnerable populations through efficient, high-integrity procurement. Howlett maintains a consistent and strategic partnership with Navcor Logistics LLC, the primary contractor for the agency’s processed food procurement portfolio. This relationship reflects a long-term, performance-driven vendor engagement model focused on supply chain reliability, cold chain logistics, and just-in-time delivery of perishable and preserved commodities. Her contracting approach prioritizes vendor accountability, adherence to USDA food specifications, and operational scalability, fostering a collaborative environment where contractors are evaluated on quality control, delivery consistency, and compliance with federal food handling protocols. Howlett’s procurement activity exhibits no set-aside preferences, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a deliberate strategy to maximize market access and operational efficiency, leveraging broad industry capacity to meet large-scale, time-sensitive food distribution demands. While small business participation is not formally prioritized through socioeconomic set-asides, her contracting practices remain transparent and accessible, encouraging participation from all qualified vendors regardless of size or certification status. Her technical expertise is narrowly focused on NAICS 311421 (Fruit and Vegetable Canning), where she specializes in procuring processed, preserved, and ready-to-serve agricultural products. She ensures all acquisitions meet USDA’s stringent nutritional, labeling, and packaging standards, demonstrating deep domain knowledge in food preservation technologies, shelf-life validation, and commodity-specific processing requirements. Her work ensures that federally funded meals meet both safety benchmarks and dietary guidelines for children, seniors, and low-income families.