"Together Talks" feature #40: Whipnotic with Co-Founder, Tracy Luckow - presented by KLS
KLS - Klimson Logistics Solutions
www.klimsonls.com --- 708-980-0920 --- [email protected]
Some Background on Whipnotic
Today's edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS had the opportunity to interview Whipnotic and Co-Founder, Tracy Luckow. They are reimagining the classic whipped cream experience by adding a colorful swirl of flavor to each can that will trigger your taste buds into sensory overload. With the touch of a button, their patented swirl technology infuses all-natural fruit juices and flavor essences into whipped cream, creating a treat that transcends the topping category. Enjoy it in a bowl, by the spoonful – make it your own
As the world around them modernized and changed, Lori’s favorite nighttime dessert – whipped cream - stayed EXACTLY THE SAME. They knew there had to be a better alternative; a healthier, more exciting whipped cream that would flip the industry on their cans. They developed a breakthrough patented technology designed to shake up the whipped cream category. With a simple touch of a button, all-natural fruit juices and flavor essences swirl into a naturally low sugar cream, creating a multi-sensorial, clean, complete dessert that is all natural, keto friendly, gluten free, and real cream!
Immediate impact
The beginning of the company was in January of 2020, the product reached the market on July 4th, 2022. Whipnotic just celebrated their 1 year Birthday! :)
Whipnotic is a women-owned business that features three individuals.
Tracy & Lori are sisters. Tracy is the creator/marketing, Lori is the seller/finance. They partnered with their close friend Elissa.
The products are currently featured in over 300 stores across 23 states. Strawberry Swirl and Vanilla Salted Caramel are on the shelves already with the company releasing 2 more flavors August 1st which will be Brownie Batter and Peach Mango. Last month Whipnotic, opened their website for sales allowing D2C options for consumers as well.
The company has grown thanks to their community built by their loyal following, word of mouth, and buss from trade shows. Being truly innovative has done wonders for them in terms of PR Tracy told us. Also the packaging is bold, bright, and "pretty show-stopping" as Tracy described which has allowed the company to not have to put effort and resources into graphics and paid advertising.
As Tracy described, "We are very grateful that people are interested in the category and then our product and brand. It has developed this strong connection and following amongst our consumers and us. We believe strongly in the power of creating passion in a small group and having them help build the brand together with us."
Conscious and creating healthier
We asked Tracy what separates Whipnotic from the competition and she lit up with all the differences and alluded to, "We have a clean recipe, careful with low sugar, no artificial ingredients or preservatives, and no corn syrup or syrup of any type! We are Moms who care about what our children are consuming. Our Mom is diabetic and insulin dependent which has forced us to be conscious thinking our entire lives. We patented the nozzle that fills with fruit juices and creates our swirl. It is like having a barista inside our can."
As Tracy described to us for years whip cream has always been the last thing in a bowl or on top. But Whipnotic is changing that perception. Instead they envision it being used so much more than the final topping. This is what they set out to accomplish and have managed to do so in just one short year! Using their nozzle and including the flavor it has a complete profile that is almost like an ice cream replacement. And incredibly it is only 15 calories per serving and less than 1g of sugar.
The strength of Whipnotic surprisingly is their small staff. Tracy believes that it allows them to be nimble and build quickly. They had accumulated friends within the industry prior to launching who have helped guide them and build on their ideas. But remaining small is the biggest asset Tracy believes. They take pride in being good listeners not only to their customers but to each other as well. Being small, nimble, and agile they can easily adapt and often make changes to improve the product. This fearlessness allows them to make immediate impacts that reach the customer instantly to provide even further satisfaction.
Lover of whip cream
We were curious how the idea was formulated, Tracy shared, "my sister has loved whip cream since she was a kid. Together we saw the innovation happening in the food service sector and wanted to bring that to the grocery side. We started to play around with the technology of frozen yogurt, how can you bring that to whip cream to combine it and create what ultimately became our product." During Covid both were working from home and started brainstorming new ideas. A whip cream company was one that came up early on and they just kept coming back to it because Lori loves the product and Tracy saw no innovation in the space. They both felt they could claim immediate space and improve the category.
Speaking with other founders especially in the CPG space in past editions of "Together Talks" we always ask if the formula is 100% complete or what version the product is on. Tracy provided an insightful answer that further cements their commitment to their company and customers. She told us, "We always think we are at 100%. We wouldn't launch unless we are proud of it and believe it is a strong project. But we continue to push the bounds of our creation, innovation, and imagination. We hit 100% then we strive for 200%, then 500%, then 1000%, we want to just keep enhancing the product for our community."
Challenges
The initial obstacle was creating not only a company from scratch, but the machinery, engineering, and entire manufacturing process. They set out to push through with ground-breaking innovation, but as Tracy mentioned, "it is almost impossible because there is no book to follow, no previous experience, no equipment created for our new invention. we had to find out by trial and error, every step of the way." What is even more impressive is the patented nozzle works on any aerosol can, which Tracy told us the possibilities are endless (for example: sun screen with aloe, shaving cream with a scent, etc.) Just an added bonus for the women as they were focusing on their whip cream project.
Tracy went more in depth, "We had to start with making 1 nozzle, we worked on 3D printers, but we didn't know how to make 1 in a factory let alone hundreds and then thousands. We had to not only invent a product, but EVERY machine, process, system. From scratch. We were also trying to build the infrastructure of our company while also trying to launch. It was a balancing act."
Another challenge is being women-owned business and the funding required to start a company. Tracy shared eye-opening statistics with us, "Female founder and inventor rates are incredibly low. less than 2% of VC funding goes to women founders and under 12% of inventors are females." One move Tracy is making is talking with local Girl Scout Troops to share her story and start young to show possibilities so hopefully young girls can know it is ok to dream and realize their potential.
As a result, the women had to make a personal investment. Each of them quit their corporate jobs to go all-in on their company. Being in a capital-intensive business and needing to secure capital was stressful. Tracy joked, "We wake up and either think we will be billionaires or go broke! But we go in every day and try our hardest and do the best we can."
But challenges have allowed the team to become even more resilient. As Tracy informed us, she is hoping that they are in 1,000 stores by the end of 2023. More than 3x their current offering!
The Future and the Favorite
We asked Tracy what fears they had starting the company and she told us, "being in our 40's and starting a company was scary. It was our first attempt with entrepreneurship. After working in corporate for so long, you think you can apply lessons learned from there, sometimes you can, but there are a lot of missing pieces. We dove in without knowing much and learned as we went. Had we known we might have paused or been hesitant. Every day we find new missing pieces, but together we learn. We balance each other through each obstacle."
Incredibly this was not the first time Tracy and Lori had worked together professionally, yet never with the same company. Tracy came up in R&D and then marketing while Lori was in sales. Somehow, someway both of their respective companies would collaborate on projects where each was the point person. She told us how much fun that was for each of them and such a wonderful surprise and fortune.
During our conversation we were curious about Tracy's favorite aspect of Whipnotic and she shared, "Sampling events in any setting, grocery store/trade show/coffee shops/boutiques/you name it...no matter who is in front of me. It can be a 6 year old child or a 60 year old, but when someone sees the color swirl come out of the can into the whip cream it is like seeing a magic trick. Pure joy and happiness, gets me every single time! Seeing a consumer wowed by our product makes all right again."
领英推荐
Tracy followed that up by telling us the moment that she is most grateful from and it was the very first sale of Whipnotic. "Citarella, Wilson is the buyer. Our product was ready a few days prior to July 4th weekend, he said 'how soon can you have the product at my warehouse?' We saw the first customer buy it in the store, we took a picture together. To have someone trust us enough that the product would deliver on time and delight their customers, it was such an incredible high of a moment. To this day I still hand deliver product to him and his store. He was our first yes, never forget it as long as I live, I'm forever appreciate it."
We ended with asking Tracy, what is the pitch for Whipnotic, she did not disappoint! "No one has done anything in 75 years, they aren't whip cream they are wimp cream. We made it more fun, healthy, and versatile."
Reinventing Whipped Cream:
?? Patent approved packaging innovation
?? Swirls of fresh flavor and color in each bite
?? Clean, low sugar ingredients
?? Launching in 2022 at a grocery store near you
??Whip love??, The Whipped Queens
Purchase from their website and use the coupon code
"Swirl15 "for a 15% discount!
In Closing
KLS wants to thank Tracy for sharing the story of Whipnotic for today's "Together Talks" feature. Keep up to date with Whipnotic by following along their journey with their social handles below!
Whipnotic was also featured in the articles listed below:
Thank you so much for a great conversation and for your constant support ??