BHP: Richmond Encyclopedia - Lower Foods Inc.

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 1920's, 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 to start. 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 in this time as laws about how one should kill and preserve the meat was very vague. After the publication of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair in 1906, laws about where and when and how one should slaughter and package their meat were becoming more strict. Russell started out by slaughtering in his barns or the barns of farmers in the area. Once laws became strict, Russell stopped slaughtering and opted to raising mink.2 During this time, Russell married Ann Jorgensen and they had Russell Larry Lower in 1927.

Smithfield Abattoir

In 1941, Russell began once again to work 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 he used to process, chill, and deliver his work. He did this for some years before he sold the business to Reeder and Reese who continued his work.2

Lower Packing Co.

In November of 1956, Russell's aforementioned son, Russell 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 fathers business.4 They renamed the business to the Lower Packing Co. and changed the business to be focused more on home-freezer cuts than the freezer lockers 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 pay for the business and his family during this difficult time, Larry worked as a gas truck driver and worked in different slaughter houses in Ogden and Salt Lake City.4 However, the Lower's pushed on and continued to expand their business and slaughterhouse and as the home-freezer enterprise continued to grow, so did their business. At this time in 1959, Larry and Marilyn had their final child whom they named Alan T. Lower.

A New Place of Operations

In the early 1980's with the expansion of the Lower Packing Co., the family was continuing to build and upgrade their slaughterhouse to meat demands. In Feb of 1987, after finishing the blueprints and plans for their next expansion, Russell James Lower died. After his death, Ann refused the option for the expansion of the slaughterhouse, so the Lower family had to look elsewhere for a larger building with more building space.4

A large building in southern Richmond was available for rent and leasing, and the Lower family took the opportunity here. From 1987-1990, the Lower family only occupied 1/3rd of the building as the other parts of it were occupied.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

After the death of Larry Lower in 2001 and Marilyn in 2008, the business was passed on to Alan and his wife Laura. Alan works along 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, some include 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 their highest 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's Foods, attended a seminar about Sterling Urgent Care that was centered around affordable healthcare to business', people, and communities. Alan put his bet into the business in 2016, and later helped to build a location connected to the factory on its south end, now where the green building is located, in 2018. However, due to Sterling being connected to the factory, many people did not visit them thinking it was only ment for Lower employs.

In 2018, the North Cache Seminary Building went up for sell after being abandoned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lower's saw the opportunity to expand the building and place Sterling in its walls. They remodeled the building and opened its doors in 2021, with the inclusion of a pharmacy.

North Cache Football Field

On the south side of North Cache laid its unattended football field. Lower's 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, Lower's and the School District kept in contact and purchased the whole football field to transform it into a parking spot for school busses. After this, Lower's cleared out the unattended tennis and basketball courts on the east side of the school and transformed the land into the schools new field.

Production

A Change in Production

In 1994, Lower's changed their production. In 1987, after the move into their new building in Richmond, they started the process from slaughtering to packaging and pre-cooked meat. The Lower's inspected the region that they were marketing to in Cache Valley and found that it would be very difficult to compete with other large business' that also did what they did with slaughtering and marketing to the home-freezer enterprise. So, in order to survive, Lower's switched from slaughter to packaging and pre-cooked meat.4 Today, Lower Foods does catering by contacting their outlet store.

What is Sold Today

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.

Double L

The Double L label is the certified label of Lower Foods products. This label is their oldest, going as far back as the 1960's. This line is meant for all lines that are produced by Lower Foods; beef, pork, chicken, turkey, and some all natural selections.

Certified Angus Beef (CAB)

Lower Foods has been a Certified Angus Beef provider since 2006. Since then, they have been the highest producer of CAB meat from 2012 to today. This line is only for beef products, including beef hot dogs. CAB is a licensed label that producers can use to tell their customers that the meat they are producing is certified angus beef, and not some rip off brand of cheep meat.5

Carne Azteca

Carne Azteca is Lower Foods ethnic line, specializing in Hispanic food such as carne asada, pork al pastor, taco beef, chicken and pork carnitas, and chorizo, including ground beef. They began their Carne Azteca line in 2016.

Bridgerland

Bridgerland is one of Lower Foods sliced meat lines, producing turkey, pork, chicken, and beef.

Craft

Craft is Lower Foods most unique line, producing the same sliced items as their Bridgerland line, but also produces whole items. Craft consists of four separate labels:

- Deli Craft is the generic slice line.
- Nature's Craft consists of whole and sliced items that are completely natural meat.
- Carver's Craft consists of only whole meat.
- Smoke Craft consists of whole and sliced items that are smoked, including their hot dogs.
Artisan

Artisan is Lower Foods newest line of products, and their certified natural meat line. Unlike the other labels, Artisan is the only product that can not be purchased in the outlet store. Artisan only produces whole meat that includes beef, pork, turkey, chicken, and bologna.