2012 Hall of Fame: Clarence Birdseye

Supermarkets cannot point to any one person as the founder of most of their departments — no single merchant created the produce industry, for example, or the spice category, or the deli.

But one man essentially did create the frozen food category, which now accounts for about $60 billion in annual retail sales in the U.S.: Clarence Birdseye, whose name still adorns a brand of frozen vegetables.

“Without him, the frozen foods industry certainly, as it stands now,