Foods have been frozen for centuries, especially by people in cold climates like the Arctic. Freezing preserves food because low temperatures slow the growth of (but do not kill) microorganisms that cause spoilage. A method of freezing food using an ice and salt brine bath was patented by H. Benjamin in England in 1842, and Enoch Piper of Maine received a fish-freezing patent in 1861. Food freezing became widespread when mechanical refrigeration systems were developed in the later 1800s.

Early commercial attempts to market frozen foods focused on meat. In 1869, Dr. Henry Howard sent a shipment of frozen beef via steamboat from Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana. Two British immigrants to Australia, Thomas Mort and James Harrison, tried to capitalize on the commercial possibilities of shipping frozen beef. In 1861 Mort established the world's first meat-freezing plant in Sydney, Australia. Both Harrison and Mort gave frozen-meat lunches to the...