Lower Family Foods is a historic business and factory located in South Richmond, opened in 1927 and owned by Alan Lower. Today, Lower Foods offers full lines of traditional deli and foodservice items in beef, pork, and poultry; products made from USDA Choice true all natural ABF/HF from birth raw materials to their value tier products processed without binders or allergens. Lower's is a certified gluten-free facility and free of the common 8 Allergens. The Factory Outlets Store caters.

Factory Outlet Store

Hours: Mon-Fri 9 A.M.- 6 P.M., Sat & Sun Closed • Address: 700 US-91, Richmond, UT 84333 • Phone: (435) 258-3755

Business Contact

Email: info@lowerfoods.com • Website: www.llranch.com • Phone: (435) 2582449

History

Early Beginnings

Russell James Lower was born Sep 19, 1904 in Smithfield, Utah, the youngest of nine children of Smithfield LDS Pioneers Abraham and Alice Ann Thornley Lower. In the early 1920s, Russell began working in the meat industry of Smithfield to slaughter Holstein Veal and market to the Salt Lake European sausage markets. Because Russell did not have any capital to start his business, Lewiston, Utah farmer Walter Reed Westover gave Russell some of his calves. Once Russell got paid, he would then pay Walter. After Russell was able to gain more capital, he began working for other farmers to pick up, slaughter, and deliver their meat to meat-lockers.4 

The practice of slaughtering was different at this time, as laws about how one should kill and preserve the meat were very vague. Russell started by slaughtering in his barns or the barns of farmers in the area. After the publication of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair in 1906, laws became stricter on where, when, and how one should slaughter and package their meat. Once laws became strict, Russell stopped slaughtering and opted to raise mink.2 During this time, Russell married Ann Jorgensen, and they had R. Larry Lower in 1927.

Smithfield Abattoir

In 1941, Russell began work again in the slaughtering industry by purchasing a parcel of property in Smithfield from the Meikles brothers' slaughter business. Russell built a three-room slaughter plant to process, chill, and deliver his work, and named the business the Smithfield Abattoir, which was French for "slaughterhouse." He did this for some years before selling his business to Reeder and Reese, who continued his work.2

Lower Packing Co.

In November of 1956, Russell's aforementioned son, R. Larry Lower, and wife, Marilyn Tibbitts, purchased Smithfield Abattoir from Reeder and Reese to continue the legacy of his father's business. However, Larry had no idea how to cut meat. While in the army during World War II, Larry signed up to be in the kitchen as he wanted to learn to cut meat to continue his father's business.4 They renamed the business to the Lower Packing Co. and changed the model to focus on home-freezer cuts rather than the freezer locker enterprise.

The beginning of the restored business was tough, as the businesses that had freezer lockers in the valley saw the Lower family as a threat to their career. To help support his business and family during this difficult time, Larry worked as a gas truck driver and in different slaughterhouses in Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah.4 However, the Lowers pushed on and continued to expand their business and slaughterhouse. As the home-freezer enterprise continued to grow, so did their business. At this time in 1959, Larry and Marilyn had Alan T. Lower.

A New Place of Operations

In the early 1980s, with the expansion of the Lower Packing Co., the family continued to build and upgrade their slaughterhouse to meet demands. In Feb 1987, after finishing the blueprints and plans for their next expansion, Russell James Lower died. After his death, Ann refused the option to expand the slaughterhouse, so the Lower family had to look elsewhere for a larger building with more space.4 A large building in southern Richmond was available for rent and leasing.

From 1987-1990, the Lower family occupied only a third of the building. Other parts were occupied by a hologram business, International Didrotek Inc.6, and a business that made the cream cheese for Einstein's Bros. Bagels.4 In 1990, the other businesses that occupied the building closed down, and the Lower family was able to purchase the complete building.2 Today, the Lower's factory in Richmond has had more than 10 different additions in its 30 years of service.3

During this time, they started the transition from slaughtering to packaging and pre-cooked meat. The Lowers family inspected the region they were marketing to in Cache Valley and found that it would be difficult to compete with other large businesses that also slaughter and market to the home-freezer enterprise. Lower's switched from slaughter to packaging and pre-cooked meat in 1994.4

After the deaths of Larry Lower in 2001 and Marilyn in 2008, the business was passed on to Alan and his wife, Laura. Alan works with his sons Lee and Chad, making Lower Food's a four-generation business.

Lower's has worked with many companies to produce high-quality meat for their customers, including Costco, Buc-ee's, Maverik Gas, and Sysco. Lower's also sends samples of their products to companies in all 50 States and the District of Columbia. In Sep of 2023, Lower's had a high record of 3.6 million pounds of meat produced.

Community Service

Sterling Urgent Care

Paul Merrill, CEO of Casper's Ice Cream, and Alan Lower, CEO of Lower Foods, attended a seminar about Sterling Urgent Care. Sterling was centered around affordable healthcare for businesses, people, and communities. Alan put his bet into the business in 2016. Later, he helped build a location connected to the factory on its south end in 2018. However, due to Sterling being connected to the factory, many people did not visit them, thinking it was only meant for Lower employees. 

In 2018, the North Cache Seminary Building went up for sale after being abandoned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lowers saw the opportunity to expand the building and place Sterling within its walls. They remodeled the building and opened its doors in 2021, including High Creek Pharmacy.

North Cache Football Field

On the south side of North Cache lay its unattended football field. Lowers spoke with the Cache County School District in 2019 - 2020 to purchase some of its land to expand a parking lot for the Sterling Seminary building. After doing so, Lowers purchased the whole football field to transform it into a parking spot for school buses. After this, Lowers cleared out the unattended tennis and basketball courts on the east side of the school and transformed the land into the school's new field.