Tracy Luckow has lived in Briarcliff Manor for the past 14 years. She raised her family here, began her career here and, three years ago, started her first business.
Luckow’s career began in Westchester about 20 years ago. Having a PhD in food sciences, she has worked at companies such as Pepsi, Dannon and Sabra in different departments before breaking off to begin her new business venture: Whipnotic.
Whipnotic is a food company that has reimagined the classic whipped cream by adding colorful flavors and swirls to each bite. This whipped cream is all natural, keto friendly, gluten free and made of real cream. Although the company is only two years old, the story of Whipnotic goes all the way back to when Tracy and her sister Lori were kids.
Luckow said the inspiration for Whipnotic came from her sister. Ever since they were young, Lori was obsessed with whipped cream. She would order waffles, pancakes, whatever came with whipped cream. After having children, the two sisters began to reevaluate health and wellness differently, and rediscovered the low-calorie, low sugar snack as adults. It was here where both Tracy and Lori had a realization.
“We realized that while every part of the grocery store had changed, updated and had a little more modern take in health and wellness, whipped cream was kind of stuck in the 70s,” Luckow said.
In 2019 the two sisters began to work on their product and prototype. To create a whipped cream that incorporated a swirl of flavor, she had to think back to her days at Dannon: a company focused on yogurt. The earliest prototype for their nozzle was inspired by the same nozzle used in a frozen yogurt machine. Similar to many other businesses, Covid-19 gave both Tracy and Lori the time at home to focus on their new business venture and perfect it.
And after some trial and error, the sisters filed for a patent in 2020 and got it. InventHelp offers invention and patent services.
Now, their patent is in 150 countries for the nozzle. What makes this nozzle special is that it does not just have to be used for whipped cream. It can work for anything that combines two products, such as sunscreen with aloe or hair mouse and shiner. While trying to make a whipped cream company, the sisters created something that could be used for a plethora of different businesses.
Luckow described how her life in Briarcliff Manor helped make Whipnotic what it is today.
“When Covid-19 hit, I got to know Briarcliff and Westchester in a different way. I started to run every day on trails in Briarcliff and that’s where a lot of inspiration and creativity comes from for me,” Luckow said.
She continued, “A lot of this business was created at Stone Barns or on the trail near the Briarcliff Library.”
Right now, Whipnotic is in about 250 stores across 22 states, but New York is certainly the center of gravity for where it all started. Locally you can find Whipnotic at DeCicco & Sons.
