Once Popular Frozen Foods That No One Eats Anymore

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Frozen food would be something of futuristic imagination without Clarence Birdseye, the father of the method and founder of Birds Eye frozen foods. Birdseye took ancient preservation techniques dating back to 1000 B.C. in China and modernized them in order to package, transport, and sell frozen foods while maintaining their freshness (via Eater). That was in 1930, and since then, frozen foods have diversified from Swanson's inception of the TV dinner to the growing cultural phenomenon behind Trader Joe's expansive range of frozen meals, meatballs, mac and cheese, and other finger foods.

Sales in the frozen foods aisle saw an up-and-down trend from the 1950s to the 2010s, until the Covid-19 pandemic surfaced in 2020, Quartz reports. The outlet notes that sales of frozen foods in the U.S. reached 66 billion dollars in 2020 compared to the previous few years when sales maxed at 56 billion dollars. The perception of frozen foods changed as well, with a 2021 Deloitte survey citing that 57% of Millennials and Zoomers found that frozen meat was equitable in quality to fresh meat, compared to 39% of Gen X and Boomers.

With changing views, new products have flooded the market, leaving others to perish into oblivion. Unfortunately, some once-popular frozen foods have been left to the side due to production issues, supply shortages, or the availability of new tastier options.

Nothing makes a child feel more like a French pastry chef than icing a flaky Toaster Strudel (that's probably still cold in the middle). The Pillsbury treat was the dessert for breakfast that every kid counted on for their early morning sugar boost. Classic strawberry was a fan favorite, and assorted flavors surfaced over the years like apple, cinnamon roll, Boston cream, and s'mores, cementing its reputation as the not-so-healthy breakfast that people hated to love.

However, it may now be harder to find the once-popular breakfast food in the frozen aisle as a result of "acute supply shortages" and a struggle to meet the current demand for frozen goods (via CNN). General Mills told CNN that aside from labor shortages at production plants and supply chain issues, the major problem was in sourcing starches, oils, and packaging materials. In addition, the inflation of wheat prices has affected product costs, causing a rush to adjust ingredients to accommodate for possible shortages in the future. Don't fret though –– just because Toaster Strudels may be gone from some places, they have not been forgotten.

Labeled as the original vegetarian burger, Boca Burger was the forefather of plant-based patties made for vegetarians and carnivores alike. The all-American BOCA Burger was originally conceptualized as the Sun Burger at a restaurant in Boca Raton, Florida, in 1979. The idea was then bought and rebranded by Kraft (via Food Business News). Now, as the battle for the best plant-based burger fuels the increasing demand for more vegetarian options, Boca burger has been left to accumulate dust in the frozen food aisle.

With plant-based brands like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat popping up in the late 2000s, the once-popular and unparalleled Boca burger has been slow to catch up to the competition. Impossible Food's revenue sits at about one billion dollars –– the highest revenue of any plant-based substitute company — while Beyond Meat comes in second at around $464 million dollars. Boca Food's sales, on the other hand, hover under five million dollars. 

Despite falling behind the competition, the Boca brand has tried to stay relevant, expanding its selection with the introduction of plant-based chicken and the aim to appeal to flexitarians as opposed to only vegan or vegetarian consumers (via Food Business News).

How can one think about Hot Pockets without humming the iconic jingle in their head? Invented in 1980 as the Tastywich, Hot Pockets was conceptualized by two immigrant brothers seeking to achieve the edible American dream (via Saveur). When the company was sold in 2002 to Kraft, it became the nostalgic meal and late-night munchie food for kids, overworked adults, and stoned college students. Hot Pockets have grown over the years to include regular breakfast pockets, big & bold pockets, and Deliwich snacks. Despite their former popularity, food recalls and production plant issues have since pulled many Hot Pockets off the shelves.

In 2015, Nestlé pledged to remove artificial flavors and reduce sodium from products such as Hot Pockets in response to growing concerns over fast food and frozen foods contributing to the obesity epidemic. Despite some positive changes, Hot Pockets hit a few roadblocks such as a recall of pepperoni pockets due to glass and plastic contamination in 2021 (via U.S. Department of Agriculture). Nestlé was hit hard again by a factory fire in 2022 that halted production, delaying plans to expand the space to accommodate an increase in Hot Pockets manufacturing (via Food Business News).

It all began when the spot where Jimmy Dean frozen chicken biscuits once sat on the shelves remained empty last year. On the company's website, consumers wrote reviews about recent changes in the recipe and the fact that the biscuits were becoming harder to find. In 2014, Tyson Foods bought Sara Lee-owned Jimmy Dean Meat Company, making it the sole provider of most frozen and fast-food chicken, including Jimmy Dean chicken biscuits (via Home Kitchen Talk). Unfortunately, the once-popular frozen breakfast began disappearing from shelves due to Tyson Foods' chicken shortage (via CNN Business).

According to CNN, Tyson Foods decided to use a different type of rooster to augment breeding and improve the quality of its meat. However, the plan backfired as the number of hatchlings was far lower than anticipated, resulting in a significant decrease in chickens. Meanwhile, other factors such as deviating Texas weather and increasing demand for chicken sandwiches in the frozen aisle and at chain restaurants caused the demand to surpass the supply. 

Jell-O Pudding Pops are iconic. Back in the '80s and '90s, you would have been hard-pressed to find a freezer that didn't contain a box of Jell-O pudding pops. Sure, the product's spokesman was ... tremendously problematic in retrospect, but these delicious frozen treats had all the familiar sweetness of a Jell-O pudding cup, with a smooth, satisfying texture. In fact, they raked in over $300 million a year for General Foods just five years after launching (via "What Were They Thinking?"). Surely a pop this classic and delicious could never fall out of style. So why is it that they're impossible to find nowadays?

The love for Jell-O Pudding Pops still carries on to this day. According to Yahoo, there are an average of 3,600 Google searches for "jello pudding pops" every month. Sadly, their search is in vain as these pudding pops were slowly phased out in the early aughts. The reason? Surprisingly it wasn't because Bill Cosby had tainted the brand beyond repair. It was because they weren't profitable (that's hashtag capitalism, babe.) Despite their popularity, General Foods was actually LOSING money making these. They tried to salvage them by licensing the Jell-O Pudding Pop brand to Popsicle, but it just wasn't the same and sales slumped. Nowadays, if you want to get your Jell-O Pudding Pop fix, you're gonna have to make them yourself.

Baked Alaska is essentially the turducken of desserts. Cake and ice cream baked inside a protective shell of meringue, it was all the rage in the '50s when ice cream pies were having a real food fad moment (via Houston Press.) The fact that ice cream gets baked and still doesn't melt makes the Baked Alaska feel like both a party trick and a delicious dessert in one. But you rarely see it on dessert menus anymore. In the age of molecular gastronomy, for some reason, Baked Alaska has fallen out of favor.

The Baked Alaska was developed all the way back in the 18th century when scientist Count Rumford realized that the air bubbles in meringue acted as a great insulator, allowing ice cream to be baked inside without turning into soup (via NPR). Years later in 1867, as a nod to the United State's recent purchase of Alaska, the famous pastry chef Charles Ranhofer at Delmonico's in New York City created the Alaska, Florida, a walnut cake with ice cream, baked inside a layer of meringue. The name was a nod to its cold/hot nature and later came to be known as the Baked Alaska. While you can still buy Baked Alaskas at Delmonico's, it's a sweet spectacle that perhaps feels a little too high-brow and too showy for today's culinary set.