Freezing Entrepreneur

Clarence Birdseye (1886-1956) is known for much more than frozen peas. He was an American inventor, entrepreneur, and naturalist, considered the founder of the modern frozen food industry. 

In 1922, Birdseye conducted fish-freezing experiments and eventually established his own company, Birdseye Seafoods Inc. His experiments found that rapid freezing, at lower temperatures, gives crystals less time to form and thus does less damage than being frozen slowly. His company went bankrupt in 1924 for lack of consumer interest. That same year, he developed an entirely new process for commercially viable quick-freezing: packing fish in cartons, then freezing the contents between two refrigerated surfaces under pressure. Birdseye created General Seafood Corporation to promote this method. By 1929, Birdseye sold his company and patents for $22 million to Goldman Sachs and the Postum Company, which eventually became General Foods Corporation which founded the Birds Eye Frozen Food Company. The "Birds Eye" name remains a leading frozen-food brand. In 1949, Birdseye won the Institute of Food Technologists' Babcock-Hart Award.

Learn more about this inventor here.