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44-687: Birds Eye is an international brand of frozen foods founded in the United States and now owned by Conagra Brands in the United States, by Nomad Foods in Europe, and Simplot in Australia. The former Birds Eye Company Ltd., originally named "Birdseye Seafood, Inc." had been established in the United States by Clarence Birdseye in 1922 to market frozen fish, being then acquired by the Postum Cereal Company in 1929. The company

88-430: A microwave oven , manufacturers have developed packaging that can go directly from freezer to the microwave. In 1974, the first differential heating container (DHC) was sold to the public. A DHC is a sleeve of metal designed to allow frozen foods to receive the correct amount of heat. Various sized apertures were positioned around the sleeve. The consumer would put the frozen dinner into the sleeve according to what needed

132-638: A 2007 study, an American consumes frozen food on average 71 times a year, most of which are pre-cooked frozen meals . Captain Birdseye Captain Birdseye , also known as Captain Iglo , is the advertising mascot for the Birds Eye (known as Iglo in parts of Europe) frozen food brand founded by Clarence Birdseye . Appearing in numerous television and billboard commercials, he has been played or modelled by various actors and

176-497: A Belgian group named Frigilunch. As a result, Birds Eye withdrew all other products produced by the same supplier in the UK and Ireland. Frozen food Preserving food in domestic kitchens during modern times is achieved using household freezers . Accepted advice to householders was to freeze food on the day of purchase. An initiative by a supermarket group in 2012 (backed by the UK's Waste & Resources Action Programme ) promotes

220-521: A French born engineer who had arrived in Sydney in 1853 and registered his first ice-making patent in 1861. The first trial shipment of frozen meat to London was in 1868. Although their machinery was never used in the frozen meat trade, Mort and Nicolle developed commercially viable systems for domestic trade. The financial return on that investment was minimal for Mort. Regular shipments of frozen meat from Australia and New Zealand to Europe began in 1881, with

264-431: A better-preserved product. Birdseye's original cryogenic freezing approach using immersion in liquid nitrogen is still used. Due to its cost, however, use is limited to fish fillets, seafood, fruits, and berries. It is also possible to freeze food by immersion in the warmer (at −70 °C (−94 °F)), but cheaper, liquid carbon dioxide , which can be produced by mechanical freezing (see below). Most frozen food

308-581: A consignment of frozen New Zealand sheep exported to London on board the Dunedin . By 1885 a small number of chickens and geese were being shipped from Russia to London in insulated cases using this technique. By March 1899, the "British Refrigeration and Allied Interests" reported that a food importing business, "Baerselman Bros", was shipping some 200,000 frozen geese and chickens per week from three Russian depots to New Star Wharf, Lower Shadwell, London over three or four winter months. This trade in frozen food

352-476: A final farewell with MacDonald in the early 1980s and the series briefly continued with a "new" Ben and Mary (played by Jonathan Slater and Fiona Rook respectively) before CDP lost the Birds Eye contract shortly afterwards. Advertising campaigns of the 1980s included one for Potato waffles that had a jingle including the words Waffley versatile . A popular advertisement for Birds Eye Steakhouse Grills featured

396-489: A food product's cells and extracellular space. Slow freezing leads to fewer but larger ice crystals while fast freezing leads to smaller but more numerous ice crystals. This difference in ice crystal size can affect the degree of residual enzymatic activity during frozen storage via the process of freeze concentration, which occurs when enzymes and solutes present in a fluid medium are concentrated between ice crystal formations. Increased levels of freeze concentration, mediated by

440-439: A jingle including the slogan "Sweet as the moment when the pod went 'pop'". In the late 1970s and early 1980s, June Whitfield appeared in a series of television advertisements for Birds Eye products, featuring the concluding voice-over line: "... it can make a dishonest woman of you!". The series was the brainchild of advertising art director Vernon Howe and was mentioned in several of his obituaries. Another popular campaign in

484-513: A large pea processing factory in the same area; it opened in 1967 and closed in 2007. On August 28, 2006, it was confirmed that Unilever had agreed to the sale of the UK brand, held since the late 1930s, to private equity house Permira for £1.2bn. The Birds Eye brand in Australia and New Zealand is owned by Simplot Australia Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the J.R. Simplot Company . Simplot purchased Birds Eye and many of Australia's leading food brands from Pacific Dunlop's Pacific Brands in

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528-458: A person's freezer and would advise them to eat Birds Eye products instead of alternatives. In 2011, Birds Eye created toy versions of Clarence that could be obtained when consumers sent away six tokens from boxes of Birds Eye fish fingers or cod fillets. In 2013, DNA tests revealed that horsemeat was present in Birds Eye chili con carne that was sold in Belgium and was produced and supplied by

572-579: A poll as the most recognisable captain on the planet after Captain Cook , also in the same year, he appeared on Noel's House Party from the 2nd series finale on 13 March 1993. In 1998 Captain Birdseye became a much younger, rugged, dark-haired man with designer stubble and a miniature submarine , who indulged in far more action-packed adventures accompanied by his pet pelican named Jess. This version played by Thomas Pescod did not last long however, and

616-414: A scene of hungry building site workers heading home in a minibus and singing about what they were hoping their wives would serve with their steak burgers. The song to the tune of Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) included the tag line "we hope it's chips". Adverts the early 2010s featured a hand puppet polar bear named Clarence (voiced by Willem Dafoe ), who in most adverts would be seen in

660-508: A significant amounts of salt and fats added. It is therefore recommended to read the nutrition label and the ingredients list. Freezing is an effective form of food preservation because the pathogens that cause food spoilage are either killed or do not grow very rapidly at reduced temperatures. The process is less effective in food preservation than are thermal techniques, such as boiling, because pathogens are more likely to be able to survive cold temperatures rather than hot temperatures. One of

704-613: A tasteless and odorless stabilizer, is typically added to frozen food because it does not adulterate the quality of the product. Natural food freezing (using winter frosts) had been in use by people in cold climates for centuries. In 1861 Thomas Sutcliffe Mort established at Darling Harbour in Sydney , Australia, the world's first freezing works, which later became the New South Wales Fresh Food and Ice Company. Mort financed experiments by Eugene Dominic Nicolle ,

748-449: Is a descriptive term that includes all forms of freezing that is "individual" (not in a whole block) and "quick" (taking a maximum of several minutes). It may correspond to cryogenic freezing, fluidized bed freezing, or any other technique that meets the definition. Frozen food packaging must maintain its integrity throughout filling, sealing, freezing, storage, transportation, thawing, and often cooking. As many frozen foods are cooked in

792-410: Is generally depicted as a clean living, older sailor with a white beard, dressed in merchant naval uniform and a white polo neck sweater and with a West Country pirate-style accent. The mascot is a reference to the brand's extensive and well-known range of frozen seafood products, of which fish fingers is probably the most-widely known. Because the Birds Eye brand is marketed to families, many of

836-419: Is instead frozen using a mechanical process using the vapor-compression refrigeration technology similar to ordinary freezers . Such a process is cheaper at scale, but is usually slower. (There is also more upfront investment in the form of construction.) Nevertheless, a wide variety of processes have been devised to achieve faster heat transfer from the food to the refrigerant: Individual Quick Freezing

880-410: Is often defrosted in one of several ways: People sometimes defrost frozen foods at room temperature because of time constraints or ignorance. Such foods should be promptly consumed after cooking or discarded and never be refrozen or refrigerated since pathogens are not killed by the refreezing process. The speed of freezing has a direct impact on the size and the number of ice crystals formed within

924-489: The "General Seafood Corporation", to promote this method. In 1929, Birdseye sold his company and patents for $ 22 million to Goldman Sachs and the Postum Cereal Company , which eventually established a new business, General Foods , and which founded the "Birds Eye Frozen Food Company". After being acquired by the Philip Morris Companies , General Foods then merged into Kraft Foods Inc. in 1990. Birds Eye

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968-401: The 1970s was for Birds Eye Beefburgers, which was one of the first to feature regional dialects (i.e. from Leeds), a novelty on television at the time. The series began in 1973 and the adverts were produced by advertising agency Collett Dickenson Pearce (CDP) and directed by Alan Parker before later being taken over by Paul Weiland , the slogan being "somehow, other beefburgers just don't taste

1012-573: The Commodore, in recognition of his selfless devotion to the nutritional needs of the nation’s children. Birdseye decided to resurrect the character three years later, on 22 July 1974, to bolster its brand against rising competition and rising prices resulting from the Cod Wars . Hewer was brought back to portray the Captain, who soon recaptured his popularity with children. In 1993, he was named in

1056-514: The advertising campaigns feature Captain Birdseye as having a 'crew' composed mostly of children in the preteen to teenage age groups, encouraging brand loyalty from children and emphasising to parents the convenience of serving the company's products. An advertising campaign in the UK in 2005 features Captain Birdseye categorically proclaiming that Birds Eye frozen ready-made meals contain no artificial flavors or preservatives, with obvious references to

1100-420: The best outcome: cooked through evenly and of good texture. The defrost system in freezers helps the equipment to perform properly, without thick layers of ice developing, thus preventing the evaporator coil from absorbing heat and cooling the cabinet. Ideally, most frozen foods should be defrosted in a refrigerator to avoid significant growth of pathogens . However, this can require considerable time. Food

1144-405: The development of greatly improved methods to freeze fish for commercial production. In 1922, he formed "Birdseye Seafood, Inc.", to freeze fish fillets with chilled air at −45 °F (−43 °C). In 1924, 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

1188-531: The first frozen fish companies, was formed in Ísafjörður , Iceland, by a merger in 1937. More advanced attempts include food frozen for Eleanor Roosevelt on her trip to Russia. Other experiments involving orange juice, ice cream and vegetables were conducted by the military near the end of World War II. The freezing technique itself, just like the frozen food market, is developing to become faster, more efficient and more cost-effective. As demonstrated by Birdseye's work, faster freezing means smaller ice crystals and

1232-492: The formation of large ice crystals, can promote enzymatic browning . Large ice crystals can also puncture the walls of the cells of the food product which will cause a degradation of the texture of the product as well as the loss of its natural juices during thawing. That is why there will be a qualitative difference observed between food products frozen by ventilated mechanical freezing, non-ventilated mechanical freezing or cryogenic freezing with liquid nitrogen. According to

1276-553: The freezing of food "as soon as possible up to the product's 'use by' date ". The Food Standards Agency was reported as supporting the change, provided the food had been stored correctly up to that time. Frozen products do not require any added preservatives because microorganisms do not grow when the temperature of the food is below −9.5 °C (15 °F), which is sufficient on its own in preventing food spoilage. Long-term preservation of food may call for food storage at even lower temperatures. Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC),

1320-514: The mass production of fish fingers in 1955, this factory closed 2005, with the loss of 650 jobs. The fish finger became the company's staple product, was developed in 1955 at its factory in Lowestoft , by H A J Scott, and test marketed in the south of England before mass production began. One of the company's main UK pea processing sites is in Gipsyville , Hull; the company formerly operated

1364-553: The mid-1990s. In 2015, Birds Eye was awarded by Reader's Digest as ‘"Australia’s Most Trusted Frozen Food Brand". Birds Eye has acquired many well-established brands, some of which are distributed regionally and not nationally. The following brands are owned and distributed by Birds Eye: In the United Kingdom, Captain Birdseye was an advertising mascot of the brand, from the 1960s to late 1990s. Appearing in numerous television and billboard commercials since 1967, he

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1408-400: The most heat. This ensured proper cooking. Today there are multiple options for packaging frozen foods. Boxes, cartons, bags, pouches, Boil-in-Bags , lidded trays and pans, crystallized PET trays, and composite and plastic cans. Scientists continue to research new aspects of frozen food packaging. Active packaging offers many new technologies that can actively sense and then neutralize

1452-405: The natives use natural freezing to preserve foods. A 1920s hunting trip to Canada, where he witnessed the traditional methods of the indigenous Inuit people, directly inspired Birdseye's food preserving method. The Icelandic Fisheries Commission was created in 1934 to initiate innovation in the industry, and encouraged fishermen to start quick-freezing their catch. Íshúsfélag Ísfirðinga , one of

1496-404: The old version soon returned, played by Martyn Reid from 2002 until 2007. From 2008 until his death in 2012 German taxi driver Gerd Deutschmann played the captain. From early 2016 to late 2016 the captain was played by Mitch Commins, followed by Denis Parlato from mid 2016 to early 2017. Mark Fletcher took over the role in 2017 until early 2018, when Italian-born actor and seafarer Riccardo Acerbi

1540-512: The presence of bacteria or other harmful species. Active packaging can extend shelf-life, maintain product safety, and help preserve the food over a longer period of time. Several functions of active packaging are being researched: The process of flash freezing itself generally effectively retain the nutrient content of foodstuff with minor losses of vitamins, making them a cost-effective and nutritious substitute from fresh equivalents. However, pre-seasoned frozen food, such as packaged meals, may have

1584-545: The problems surrounding the use of freezing as a method of food preservation is the danger that pathogens deactivated (but not killed) by the process will once again become active when the frozen food thaws. Foods may be preserved for several months by freezing. Long-term frozen storage requires a constant temperature of −18 °C (0 °F) or less. To be used, many cooked foods that have been previously frozen require defrosting prior to consumption. Preferably, some frozen meats should be defrosted prior to cooking to achieve

1628-541: The products being healthy and nutritious to children. The actor most associated with Captain Birdseye was John Hewer , who played the character from 1967 to 1998. His tenure was interrupted by a hiatus in 1971, when the fictitious Captain was killed off by Birdseye, with an "obituary" in The Times announcements section: Birdseye, Captain. On June 7th, 1971, after long exposure, life just slipped through his fingers. Celebrity and gourmet. Mourned by Sea-Cook Jim and

1672-490: The same". Initially, they starred Paul Malkin as Dan Godfrey and the late Darren Cockerill as his brother Ben, with the latter only ever wanting to eat beefburgers from Birds Eye. After Malkin left, he was replaced by Heather MacDonald as neighbour Mary, who had an unrequited crush on Ben. Cockerill departed in 1979 (with Ben emigrating to Australia) and was himself replaced by twins (played by Andy and Stephen Halstead) who Mary looked after at Ben's old house. Cockerill returned for

1716-526: Was cast as Captain Birdseye in a £8m revamp of the brand and character in January 2018. The new Captain's "rugged good looks" were a huge hit with the British press. In South Africa, Captain Birdseye had been played by another British actor, Larry Taylor . Captain Birds Eye portrayed through the years. The brand was acquired by Anglo-Dutch food conglomerate Unilever , and was held until 2006, when it

1760-696: Was enabled by the introduction of Linde cold air freezing plants in three Russian depots and the London warehouse. The Shadwell warehouse stored the frozen goods until they were shipped to markets in London , Birmingham , Liverpool and Manchester . The techniques were later expanded to the meat-packing industry . From 1929, Clarence Birdseye introduced " flash freezing " to the American public. Birdseye first became interested in food freezing during fur-trapping expeditions to Labrador in 1912 and 1916, where he saw

1804-671: Was formed to exploit the Birds Eye Frozen Foods brand in the UK. In 1943, Unilever acquired T. J. Lipton , a majority stake in Frosted Foods (owner of the Birds Eye brand in the UK) and Batchelors Peas , one of the largest vegetables canners in the United Kingdom. Birds Eye also operated a factory in Grimsby , mass producing a range of fish and vegetable based frozen foods, moving to Unilever's Ladysmith Road site for

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1848-570: Was played by the actor John Hewer between then and 1998 e.g. in 1986 advert for Birdsye Fish Fingers. After the retirement of the original actor, the brand was relaunched with a younger man with designer stubble (played by Thomas Pescod), but was less popular, and the character was dropped from Birdeye's advertising. A 2014 redesign of the brand's packaging includes artwork resembling the original Captain Bird's Eye. Child actress Patsy Kensit appeared in an early 1970s advert for frozen peas. This featured

1892-532: Was sold to Dean Foods in 1993 and was independently owned by Birds Eye Foods of Rochester, New York until it was purchased by Pinnacle Foods in 2009. In March 2010, Pinnacle announced it would be closing the Rochester headquarters and moving operations to New Jersey. Pinnacle Foods was then acquired by Conagra Brands in June 2018, with Birds Eye becoming part of its brand portfolio. In June 1938, Frosted Foods

1936-720: Was then owned by other firms such as Dean Foods and Pinnacle Foods , which was eventually taken over by Conagra Brands in 2018. Since then, Conagra has been managing rights to the Birds Eye brand in the U.S. In the early 1900s, during his travels through Northern Canada, Clarence Birdseye of Montclair, New Jersey, saw the Inuit use ice, wind, and temperature to instantly freeze freshly-caught fish. His curiosity piqued, and Clarence wondered if this method, called flash freezing, could also be applied to other foods. This 1920s hunting trip to Canada inspired Birdseye's food preserving method. Birdseye conducted experiments and received patents for

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