How do refrigerator affect the economy?

Answer 1

Refrigerators and freezers changed trading methods in several ways. As domestic models became more popular in the middle of the twentieth century, manufacturing output was adjusted to meet the demand. The refrigeration industry remains a large industry sector.

Domestic refrigerators allowed food to be bought in larger quantities at longer intervals. It became possible to travel to the larger stores away from town centers to buy meat, fish, milk and other products once each week rather than daily from local butchers and fishmongers. It marked the rise of the supermarket and the decline of the local independent traders.

Commercial chillers allowed far longer storage times for food distribution. The addition of chillers to trucks, rail wagons and ships allowed national and global food transport and so allowed exotic foods to be obtained from anywhere in the world.

The new trading methods challenged farmers, distributors and retailers alike and in the last six or seven decades, the food economy has moved from local farmers and traders to global agricultural companies and ever larger food distributors.