This 55,000 square foot plant processes green beans and carrots in the summer, as well as prepared rice and pasta dishes such as Birds Eye's Steamfresh, Freshlike, and Voila products all year round. Wisconsin is one of the primary growing regions for green beans in the U.S., along with western New York and Oregon. Birds Eye’s Darien site is divided between frozen warehousing, cold repack operations, and fresh processing of vegetables and associated frozen food ingredients. Birds Eye Foods has 16 facilities nationwide, including two in Wisconsin: Darien and Fairwater. The company was founded by Clarence Birdseye in the 1924, after he borrowed Inuit traditions to develop a commercial flash freezing process, in which fish or produce is cooled so quickly that its cell walls remain intact, preserving the food’s texture and flavor.