Exactly 91 years ago on March 6, 1930, you could buy frozen food for the first time in ten grocery stores in the small town of Springfield, Massachusetts: vegetables, fruit, and fish. The greatest innovation of modern times in terms of preserving food was born: shock freezing. Even today, deep-freezing is the gentlest type of preservation: it is done purely by cold, without any addition of preservatives. It took a good 25 years before the deep-frozen products made the leap across the big pond: It was in 1955 at Anuga in Kiiln – the world’s largest trade fair for the food industry and food industry Frozen products were presented to trade fair visitors for the first time. Nowadays, frozen food has become an indispensable part of everyday nutrition: Almost every household (97.5%) buys and appreciates the products from the cold, according to the German Frozen Food Institute (dti).
The rapid success and acceptance of frozen products by consumers prompted American President Ronald Reagan to set up the “Frozen Food Day” in 1984, which has been celebrated every year on March 6 – here in Germany as “the day of frozen foods”.
The American Clarence Birdseye is considered to be the inventor of frozen foods. Between 1915-1922 the marine biologist undertook several research trips to Labrador / Newfoundland. There he observed the Inuit freezing their fresh food: freshly caught fish or the meat of freshly hunted animals was hung in the icy wind, which was over 45 degrees Celsius. Fish and meat were frozen in a very short time. The frozen foods lasted the whole winter and after preparation, even weeks and months later tasted just as fresh as they had just been caught or hunted.
Birdseye was fascinated by the idea of making food durable for a long period of time in this way without any loss of taste or quality. With seven dollars in start-up capital, he bought his equipment for the invention of mechanical deep cooling: ice, salt, and an electric fan. With these small resources, he tinkered until the first shock freezing system was created. For the first time, he was able to gently deep-cut whole fish, fish fillets, vegetables, meat, and other fresh foods within a very short time – just like in the arctic cold of Newfoundland.
91 years later – the wide range of freezers in supermarkets has become indispensable.
In Germany country, frozen food has been available in grocery stores for over 65 years. Currently, the most popular vegetable product from the freezer is the creamy spinach, which is celebrating its 60th birthday this year. This was the beginning of the triumphant advance of spinach in German kitchens. If the spinach was previously spurned by many children because of the bitter substances, it tasted even the smallest with a dollop of cream and became one of the absolute favorite dishes of the Germans – it is particularly popular in combination with mashed potatoes and scrambled or fried eggs. Just like many other frozen food products, it was able to gain new fans in the current coronavirus period. Today, the freezer chests of the trade offer consumers nationwide more than 17,000 frozen items. So it’s no wonder that the annual per capita consumption in Germany is now around 47 kilograms. In 1960 this was still an average of 800 grams, so one thing is for sure: Germans are real frozen food fans.
Again, frozen foods have come a long way since they were introduced in 1930 by Clarence Birdseye. Today’s tasty products have been developed and prepared by expert chefs in test kitchens across the country – using real ingredients and rigorously evaluated by nutritionists and dietitians, according to the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA).
March Frozen Food Month 2021 planning is underway at NFRA, including a consumer gift card giveaway, consumer communications through a panel of influencers, Easy Home Meals social media channels and other activities.
Also to celebrate National Frozen Food Month, the American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) presented these three tips for maximizing the many benefits of frozen foods:
Mix frozen and fresh. To most frozen food consumers (72%), it’s not frozen or fresh – it’s frozen and fresh (Power of Frozen, 2021). “Mixing fresh and frozen in the same meal is a tell-tale trait of our core frozen food consumers,” AFFI President and CEO Alison Bodor said. The frozen aisle is full of single ingredients, side dishes and entrees that can all mix well with fresh, and vice versa: add frozen berries and fresh spinach to your smoothie, bake a side of sweet potato fries to pair with lunch, or serve your favorite frozen pizza with a side salad.
Add more fruits and vegetables. Frozen fruits and vegetables can play an essential role in helping achieve a well-rounded, healthy diet. New research from the Produce for Better Health Foundation shows Americans are eating fruits and vegetables less frequently, trending down an astonishing 10 percent since 2004 and down 3 percent in just the past five years (State of the Plate, 2020). “Keeping frozen produce handy helps reduce food waste and the variety of fruit and vegetable offerings in the frozen aisle make it easy to incorporate them into any meal occasion,” says Bodor. “Spiralized and riced vegetables are commonplace now. We’re seeing the next round of innovation in frozen vegetables with family-sized vegetables for roasting or grilling and new varieties with global sauces and seasonings.”
Try the latest frozen trends. The growing number of health-conscious consumers are expected to drive the market for immunity boosting foods (The Business Research Company). The frozen food aisle provides power packed superfood staples like berries, salmon, and spinach, to protein and grain bowls to meet consumer demand.