When Dr. Samuel Garcia opened Lomo Premium Meats last year, he was as prepared as any first-time business owner could be.
For one thing, he’s worked with livestock from an early age, having grown up in a family of ranchers on both sides of the border.
For another, he earned a Ph.D. in Animal Sciences from the University of Arizona.
It’s easy to forget that the UA is a land-grant university, created to provide a practical education for students in what was then an agrarian society. Its first academic division, the College of Agriculture, was started in 1885 – and still remains relevant today.
Garcia talks about the application of his research to current ranching practices: “For my Ph.D., I was looking at the nutrition of my cattle. I did a lot of comparison between breeds, and we looked at how feasible it is to use our breeds for production, at how well they feed and at their economic value.”
Garcia added, “A lot of what we did on a ranch was explained at school, the science behind it. On the ranch, you do things that you know work, the way things were done for years, but you don’t necessarily know why they work.”
His hands on-experience and ability to explain it in scientific terms stood Garcia in good stead as a professor in the School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences, and as a manager at UA’s Food Products and Safety Laboratory, a student-run USDA-inspected facility. There, Garcia assisted students in harvesting, processing, and selling meat from animals sourced from the UA’s Campus Agricultural Center, as well as from other local producers.
Which brings us back to Lomo Premium Meats, where Garcia puts his ranching, academic, and management experience into practice.
The store has a modern, stylish feel, with flattering lighting, terracotta-colored walls, and artful neon signs, including a large “A” announcing that the business is “Alumni Owned.” The neat rows of artisan spices, sauces, rubs, and dressings–think Southern peach, honey dill, and Burgundy poppyseed–would look at home in any chic kitchen emporium.
But the cold cases of shrink-wrapped meat immediately make the central focus of the shop clear. So does the fact that Garcia can often be seen wearing a cowboy hat and a Lomo Premium Meats apron while brandishing sharp knives.
He explains that “lomo” means “loin” in Spanish – the choicest cut of meat. He said, “The loin of the animal is the most valuable, the most tender piece of meat. It includes ribeye, porterhouse, and New York strip. The whole idea behind Lomo is that we carry high-quality cuts. We are focusing on the higher end products, and also on customer service.” That includes dry aging, grinding, and cutting steaks to a patron’s specifications.
Garcia’s family ranches mostly raise beef cattle, and beef is the bulk of what is sold at the store, but pork, chicken, lamb, and goat are available too. All the meat is additive- and hormone-free and sourced from Arizona ranches and farms that specialize in particular products – for example, chickens, eggs, and sometimes turkey and duck are brought in from Lily Valley Farm in Vail.
Also keeping Garcia busy is a partnership with Jason Scott that rebranded the restaurant at Tucson’s KVOA Campground from BBQ Rush to Steak Rush Grill. “Jason buys pretty much all the meat from Lomo,” Garcia said, “and we cut everything for him here. That way he’s got everything fresh, and we can guarantee the portion size and vacuum seal it.” Garcia also helped Scott with a new menu, which highlights wood-fired meat with a Southwestern flair.
In addition, Garcia is opening another Lomo Premium Meats in Green Valley soon and plans to debut the fast-casual Lomo Grill next door to the Wilmot store in late October or early November. “It is going to be more a quick grab-and-go lunch type of thing, some burritos and maybe burgers. It’ll have a few chairs but won’t be a sit down restaurant,” Garcia explained.
Garcia left his position at the UA last December so he could focus on his new business but he enjoys teaching, including outside of the university setting.
On a recent visit to Sonora, where Garcia’s father and two uncles have ranches about 40 miles south of Douglas, he said, “I gave a couple presentations for guys who have been cattlemen all of their lives. They always sold live animals, and they wanted to start selling their own beef. So I talked to them about what came out of their beef and how they should market it.”
Garcia also hopes to give a few guest lectures at the UA. As for teaching full-semester classes, he mused, “Maybe 10 years from now, if I were able to bring some of the real life experiences that I’m going to gain running my own business, that would be great.”
Eller School of Management, take note.
Lomo Premium Meats is located at 1521 N. Wilmot Rd. For more information, visit lomomeats.com. Keep up with Lomo Premium Meats on Instagram.
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