History of Frozen Food

During the 1920's and 1930's Clarence Birdseye invented, developed and commercialised a method of quick-freezing food products in convenient packages without altering the original taste, texture or appearance of the food. Today Clarence Birdseye is a household name and his process has evolved into a multi-billon pound industry.

Born  in Brooklyn  in 1886, Birdseye was a biology major at  Amhurst  College  when  he quit school to work as  a naturalist  for  the  US  government.  He  was  posted to Labrador  in   Canada,  where   he  observed  first-hand that  the  fish,  caught  by the  local Inuit,  froze  almost immediately    after   being    pulled    from   the   water. More importantly, he  found  that there  was hardly any difference  in taste and texture of the  fish once thawed

out and cooked months later. From this experience and his background in biology, he concluded that food must be frozen very quickly to prevent ice crystals forming and ruining the cellular structure of the food.

In 1923, Birdseye founded Birdseye Seafood Inc. and then invested $7 in an electric fan, buckets of brine and cakes of ice. Birdseye invented and later perfected a system of packing fresh food into waxed cardboard boxes and flash-freezing them under high pressure. After a year, Birdseye Seafood Inc. ended in bankruptcy and in 1924 Birdseye established the General Seafoods Company.

By 1926, Birdseye had developed a quick-freeze double-belt machine weighing 20 tons which was later converted into a multiple-plate freezer which was much more mobile.

In June 1929, the General Seafoods Company was sold for $22 million and the name was changed to Birds Eye. Clarence Birdseye remained with the company and headed up research and development.

On March 6th 1930, 18 stores in Springfield, Massachusetts tested refrigerated grocery display cases, this was followed by a further two tests in 1934 in New York. In 1944 the Birds Eye company began to lease refrigerated boxcars to transport frozen foods via rail making nationwide frozen food distribution a reality.

Through his work, Clarence Birdseye invented the processes and technologies to create a market for frozen food. As the benefits of frozen food became obvious to consumers, freezers became essential household appliances.