Articles
9 February 2012

Grist for the Grinder

by Sarah Ryther Francom

09 February 2012—

 

Sherman Robinson is working hard to keep his family business from becoming an anachronism.
            One hundred years ago, when Robinson’s grandfather purchased the Lehi Roller Mills, flour mills were as integral a part of a community as the town banks. Today, most of the small flour mills have gone the way of the silver dollar, but “I’ve always thought that this was something we should keep around,” Robinson says. “There’s something basic and there’s something good about raising our own food.”
            He gets plenty of feedback that other people agree with him about retaining the mill. Last year, at the mill’s centennial celebration, people would tell him stories of mill’s history in the community. “A couple said, ‘We wanted to meet you because it’s our 50-year anniversary,’ and I thought in my mind, ‘Well, what’s that got to do with the mill?’ And they said, ‘Well, when my husband proposed to me, we came down to the mill and we got up on the porch and he sang to me the song “Down by the Old Mill Stream” and then he proposed to me.’ It’s amazing to me how many people’s personal histories in some way have got a tie to this mill. There are just a million stories about it.”
            But Lehi Roller Mills operates as a business, not a museum, and sentimentality can’t be entered on the balance sheet. What does benefit the bottom line is the rising consumer interest in knowing where the food comes from and how it was processed. Many people shy away from the natural food movement, “but we are local, and I think people understand local,” Robinson says. “I think it will be a good marketing thing to be a small [business] and to have a local source. In terms of our food supply and safety and security, I think these are going to be bigger issues as we go forward.”
A number of recent contaminations of food products reinforces his point. In addition, consumers buying Utah-made products benefit the local economy and keep other Utahns in business. However, when a consumer goes to the store and sees that the national brand costs 50 cents less than the one produced locally, the decision to support Utah companies becomes more difficult.
            “One of things that Utah’s Own is really trying to deal with is, if you educate the public enough, are they going to be willing to still have the lowest food cost in the world but pay more for it because Jim Smith raised it in Cedar Valley and Robinson processed in Lehi?” Robinson asks. “That is the question that keeps me up at night. I’m banking on the answer is going to be yes, but I’m not sure of it because most of these little businesses like ours and the others in Utah’s Own are very, very tentative.”
            While many local food producers report a growing interest in their products, the overall trend in the United States is toward mass-produced food, Robinson says. “What I’m trying to do, what Utah’s Own is trying to do, is buck that trend. We’re trying to appeal to the people who say, ‘I want to preserve a local food source.’ The country is making a decision of what’s going to be out there in 15 to 20 years, and right now, the way it looks, is there’s not going to be any local producers of food unless we and others like us are successful in what we’re doing.”
            About 80 percent of the wheat that Robinson’s mill uses is purchased within 200 miles of Lehi. “That’s the way we’ve always done business,” he says, with some of the relationships going back generations. “I’ve always bought Jim Smith’s wheat [from Cedar Valley Farms], and my grandfather bought from his grandfather.”
            One benefit of knowing the farmers who grow the wheat is that he’s well aware of the quality of the crop, so he can bring the best to his mill to grind for the flour, pancake mix and other products that carry the Lehi Roller Mills name, he says.
            While the brand is recognized in Utah, it is little-known outside the Beehive State. Robinson is working to expand his national market. The pre-packaged mixes that the mill produces for the holiday season have been introduced into the Chicago area. “We’re into our third year, and we’re having some very, very good success in that larger market,” he says.
            He also has developed a new product; the mill is bringing out a “full-grain, heart-healthy pancake,” which will be on the shelves this year, another sign that in Lehi, the mill will keep rolling along.
 


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