In 1925 his
General Seafood Corporation moved to Gloucester, Massachusetts. There it
employed Birdseye's newest invention, the double belt freezer, in which cold
brine chilled a pair of stainless steel belts carrying packaged fish, freezing
the fish quickly. His invention was subsequently issued as US Patent
#1,773,079, marking the beginning of today's frozen foods industry. Birdseye
took out patents on other machinery, which cooled even more quickly, so that
only small ice crystals could form and cell membranes were not damaged. In 1927
he began to extend the process beyond fish to quick-freezing of meat, poultry,
fruit, and vegetables.
In 1929,
Birdseye sold his company and patents for $22 million to Goldman
Sachs and the Postum
Company, which eventually became General Foods Corporation, and which
founded the Birds
Eye Frozen Food
Company.
Birdseye continued to work with the company, further developing frozen
food technology. In 1930 the company began sales experiments in 18 retail
stores around Springfield, Massachusetts, to test
consumer acceptance of quick-frozen foods. The initial product line featured 26
items, including 18 cuts of frozen meat, spinach and peas, a variety of fruits
and berries, blue point oysters, and fish fillets. Consumers liked the new
products and today this is considered the birth of retail frozen foods. The
"Birds Eye" name remains a leading frozen-food brand. [source: wikipedia]
