Clarence Birdseye
Clarence Birdseye was an American inventor who, inspired by Inuit fish freezing in Labrador, developed quick-freezing methods in the 1920s and sold his frozen food business to Postum in 1929.
What they did and why it matters
Birdseye created the frozen food industry, which depends on an unbroken cold chain from plant to warehouse to customer. He found that fast freezing preserved texture and flavor far better than slow freezing, and he developed a method of freezing packaged food between refrigerated plates under pressure. His business, sold with its patents for $22 million, became Birds Eye. Frozen food requires freezer warehouses, refrigerated trucks, and insulated packaging, and frozen e-commerce shipments today use dry ice or gel packs to keep the chain he made essential intact.
Related people
Sources
- Clarence Birdseye (National Inventors Hall of Fame) invent.org
- Birdseye, Clarence (Encyclopedia.com) encyclopedia.com