The challenge of transporting refrigerated meet in the 19th century?

In 19th century America, transporting fresh beef from the Great Plains to the Northeast was an expensive and daunting task. Entrepreneurs in the meat industry at that time faced a vast and complex supply chain riddled with costs and inefficiencies.?

Had we lived in those years, we would have primarily consumed pork. The reason was that raising pigs for personal consumption was more feasible than acquiring fresh beef. It was the preferred type of meat for preservation in salt, as cured beef was not usually favoured.?

To get beef to the market, it had to travel great distances from the South. These were costly and delicate shipments of live cattle that set out from Texas to Kansas, where they would be sent by train to Chicago and continue their journey to the slaughterhouses in the East.?

But had we lived back then, we would have known about Gustavus F. Swift. He was a cattle buyer and co-owner of a butcher shop in Eastham, Massachusetts, which would eventually vanish when he moved to Chicago.?In 1875, this businessman, who started as a butcher's assistant at 14, had concluded that his business would be more profitable if he could transport fresh meat instead of live cattle.?

However, to accomplish this, he would face a significant hurdle: ensuring that the meat arrived in good condition for sale. Preservation during transport was as crucial as it was impossible. Refrigerated transport as we know it did not exist.?

The ice-based mechanism was vital in these logistical projects, but posed a significant challenge: if it came into contact with the meat, it would be damaged. They needed to find a way to ensure constant and equitable refrigeration for complete preservation.?

How the solution was found is indeed a story to remember. His original ideas, like those of many great contemporaries who also tried, were disastrous. Anyway, they are an excellent example that only through perseverance can innovation be achieved.?

Gustavus F. Swift was able to design a mode of transport equipped with ventilated boxes at each end where ice was inserted, allowing the meat to be packed and cooled efficiently for transport. This creation not only drastically reduced costs but made it possible to bring fresh meat to more people.?

However, the challenges and failures did not end there. It was also difficult to find suitable partners in the railway industry at the time. Remember, the sector was geared for transportation with live cattle. The context and infrastructure of the time left no room for an alternative, and if one did exist, it was viewed with suspicion. What guarantees of success could there be??

They were facing a paradigm shift without knowing it. Even the end consumers were wary of the market's offer of packaged fresh meat. We may not fully understand it with our modern view, but those ancestors saw nothing appealing about eating meat that had been slaughtered a week before.?

Despite everything, Swift was able to partner with willing railways and find efficient routes for his business. Finally, the paradigm changed. The years that followed this feat led the meat industry to evolve in leaps and bounds, enabling the export of meat internationally and the emergence of modern butcher shops at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.?

Certainly, refrigerated transport demonstrates how a logistical innovation can have a profound impact on the industry and change the way we live. Its origin remains a valuable case study in modern logistics. That's why we wanted to share with you this "story to remember" and encourage you to discover it through historical works such as:?

• The American railroad freight car: from the wood-car era to the coming of steel. By John H. White, 1933.?
• The Yankee of the Yards; the biography of Gustavus Franklin Swift. By Louis F. Swift, 1927.?

Do you know more curious facts about this? Can you suggest another story to remember? We're reading your comments!