The Future Is Frozen: How Cryogenics Is Redefining Food Innovation 

By Douglas Hoon, CTO and Co-Founder,
Cometeer, Inc 

Key takeaways:

• Cryogenics as food innovation: No longer just for preservation, cryogenic freezing is being utilized to enhance flavor, texture, and nutrition while enabling clean-label products free from artificial preservatives.
• Extended shelf life and supply chain benefits: Foods frozen with liquid nitrogen can maintain quality for 2–3 years, reducing waste, simplifying logistics, and supporting global distribution.
• Real-world applications and trade-offs: From vegetables and seafood to coffee, cryogenics improves freshness and taste, though it incurs higher costs due to specialized infrastructure needs.

Once a fixture in industrial storage, cryogenics is now gaining recognition as a pivotal player in food innovation. Previously viewed merely as a preservation technique, freezing is being redefined—not just to extend shelf life but as a powerful tool for enhancing flavor, nutritional retention, offering clean label formulations, and transforming global supply chains. The future of food may very well reside in its frozen state.

From Preservation to Possibility

Cryogenics—defined as the study of materials at ultra-low temperatures—has existed for over a century. In food, it refers to ultra-low-temperature freezing, typically using liquid nitrogen, to keep quality intact in ways traditional freezing cannot. Initially used to transport perishables like meat and dairy, industrial freezing has evolved significantly from ice blocks and insulated train cars. Earlier methods of slower freezing often degraded food texture when compared to fresh items. The innovation of liquid nitrogen systems in the 20th century provided food producers with the means to freeze products rapidly, minimizing cellular damage.

However, it is only in recent years that the food industry has begun to leverage cryogenic freezing not simply for preservation, but as a foundation for quality enhancement and product innovation.

Beyond Cold Storage: Key Benefits

1. Clean Label, No Compromise

Cryogenic freezing allows for extended shelf life without synthetic preservatives, aligning with increasing consumer demand for clean label products free from artificial ingredients. Because cryogenically frozen foods maintain their quality over time, brands can reduce additives while meeting shelf-life and safety requirements.

2. Superior Taste and Nutrition

Rapid cryogenic freezing reduces large ice crystal formation that can damage cell walls and affect texture and flavor. By locking in moisture and essential nutrients, cryogenically frozen products often surpass fresh versions that may deteriorate during transport and storage.

3. Extended Shelf Life

Cryogenically frozen foods can maintain peak quality for two to three years, offering significant inventory control and market flexibility. This longevity is particularly advantageous for perishable high-cost ingredients and companies managing seasonal production cycles.

4. Supply Chain Optimization

With shelf life extending up to three years when frozen, cryogenics virtually eliminates waste due to expired products and supports centralized production serving dispersed markets. Enhanced product quality and reduced temperature-related failures also facilitate just-in-time fulfillment strategies.

The Science Behind the Freeze

Cryogenic freezing operates by significantly lowering temperatures—often using liquid nitrogen at -321°F—stopping biological and chemical activity almost instantaneously. Some critical scientific advantages include:

• Bacterial and enzymatic Activity Halts: Prevents spoilage and microbial growth.
• Microcrystalline Ice Formation: Minimizes tissue disruption, preserving food texture.
• Immediate Cessation of Chemical Reactions: Stops oxidation, pigment loss, and off-flavor formation.

Freezing speed is crucial. In cellular foods like fruits and vegetables, rapid freezing limits ice crystal growth that can rupture cell walls. For non-cellular matrices like sauces, it ensures consistent solidification and prevents ingredient separation. Whether it’s a steak or a smoothie, faster freezing translates to higher-quality thawed products.

Real-World Applications

Vegetables

Cryogenic freezing of vegetables at their peak ripeness—often within hours of harvesting—retains more nutrients, vibrant color, and fresh flavor than traditional frozen or even “fresh” counterparts that have taken days to reach grocery shelves. This quality is appealing to health-conscious consumers.

For instance, B&G Foods’ Green Giant line uses cryogenic flash-freezing in its premium vegetable blends to lock in freshness without added sodium or preservatives while ensuring year-round availability.

Fish

Cryogenic freezing revolutionizes seafood processing. With onboard freezing systems, fish can be frozen minutes after catch, preserving both quality and safety.

An example is Norwegian salmon, which can be cryogenically frozen at sea, allowing it to compete with sometimes fresher options in global markets, stabilizing pricing, reducing waste, and supporting more sustainable fishing practices.

Coffee

A remarkable example of cryogenic innovation is a new format of coffee that rapidly captures brewed coffee at its peak flavor. The result is frozen concentrate in capsules, allowing for instant, quality coffee globally without brewing equipment. This shift exemplifies how cryogenics fosters entirely new product experiences.

Testing has shown that the flavor of the reconstituted beverage can exceed that of traditionally brewed coffee due to minimized flavor degradation—a time-and-temperature-dependent process.

The Trade-offs: Cold Comes at a Cost

Not every technology is flawless. Cryogenics demands a dedicated frozen supply chain, inherently more costly and complex compared to standard food distribution. From energy-intensive storage to specialized logistics, infrastructure costs may be substantial.

Nevertheless, these expenses must be weighed against the quality improvements and customer experience enhancements, along with operational efficiencies from longer shelf life and centralized production. For premium brands and long-distance exporters, the return on investment can prove significant.

A Frozen Frontier Worth Exploring

As the food industry encounters challenges surrounding sustainability, global distribution, and clean label demands, cryogenics emerges as a scalable, scientifically grounded solution.

No longer limited to preservation, freezing serves as a platform for innovation—enhancing flavor, reducing additives, and reimagining food production and consumption.

The future is frozen. For food brands willing to embrace this science, it promises to be colder, cleaner, and more flavorful than ever.

Douglas Hoon is an accomplished engineer and innovation leader with over four decades of experience across advanced composites, firearms, sporting goods, and coffee innovations. As the Chief Technology Officer at
Cometeer, he is the principal architect behind the company’s proprietary coffee extraction technology, recognized by TIME Magazine as one of the 200 Best Inventions of 2022.

Hoon, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. He is named inventor on over two dozen patents and continues to advance product and process development in the food and beverage industry.