History and Meat Go Together at E.S. Miller Packing

Jeff Reuland and Ernie Jacobson both had paper routes together as kids. Now Reuland, 62, and Jacobson, 61, are in the meat business together.

Reuland, of Big Rock, owns at 748 Montgomery Rd. in Montgomery. And Jacobson, of Montgomery, runs it.

Reuland and Jacobson grew up on Aurora’s East Side, both going to East High School and both working at E. S. Miller Packing in the ‘60s. Back then, the meat packing company owned by Edward Miller was located on New York Street in downtown Aurora.

Reuland worked at Miller Packing in high school as part of a school work program. He hung beef, delivered to retail stores, ran hamburgers to McDonald’s and Dog and Suds - he did it all, he recalls.

“It was heavy work,” said Reuland, who went on to culinary school. He blames his bad back on the job. Miller Packing was a much larger operation in the old, now demolished factory at 120 W. New York St. 

Reuland got Jacobson a job at the plant in the late 1960s. Jacobson stayed on until the downtown location closed in the mid-1980s. He then spent a decade at Walt’s Supermarket in Aurora before returning to run Miller Packing after Edward’s son, Jerome, opened it again in Montgomery.

In 2005, Reuland purchased the business from Jerome, who was leaving for California. Reuland also owns Reuland Food Service in Aurora, so he figured the businesses could go hand in hand and he could buy meat through the packing company.

Jacobson continues to run the meat packing shop, both the wholesale and retail end. They mostly service local restaurants, caterers and pizza places with fresh poultry, beef and pork products. They deliver meat to local clubs like the VFW and Tigers Club, churches and nursing homes; pizza sausage goes to Ach-N-Lou’s and Gario’s, among others.

They offer retail sales and customers are able to call ahead and order custom cut steaks, chops, ground beef, whole turkeys and Gusto hams, from Gusto Packing out of Montgomery.

“We don’t have a meat counter. Customers can call ahead of time and the next day we’ll have it ready,” Jacobson said.

Fresh choice grade meat is delivered to Miller Packing two or three times weekly from places such as Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and “all over,” Reuland said. When the meat arrives, it is already chopped down and boxed, then Jacobson and employee Chris Graham process the meat. They cut and grind meat in a small processing room in the back of the shop.

“It can’t be too much fresher,” said Reuland, who said their Cryovac sealer keeps meat fresh for weeks. A federal inspector visits the shop daily to test the meat and check equipment. He added, “Everything here is choice or better.”

Reuland and Jacobson said they still have many of the same customers from back in the day. “We’ve had the same customers forever,” Jacobson said. That’s likely because Jacobson knows his meat.

“It’s not a real big business,” said Reuland, but it’s good meat at a good price.