NEW YORK — Whipped cream brand Whipnotic took home a $25,000 cash prize and potential placement at Whole Foods Market after winning the Naturally New York Pitch Slam competition.

Naturally New York is an organization that promotes sustainable business practices and brings together New York area entrepreneurs and investors.

Co-founded by sisters Tracy Luckow and Lori Gitomer in 2022, Whipnotic offers a cleaner, homemade whipped cream product, according to the company.

“It has cream, skim milk, mono- and diglycerides, a touch of cane sugar, natural vanilla flavor, and carrageenan to thicken and stabilize the product, which is from red seaweed,” Luckow said. “We knew that just upgrading the recipe wasn’t enough, so we looked to baristas for inspiration.”

Taking innovation a step further, the sisters invented Whipnotic’s swirl button that is on the side of the nozzle. The company fills a chamber with enough fruit juices and natural flavor essences to flavor an entire can. When a consumer presses the button while spraying the nozzle, the flavor swirls into the whipped cream. That happens due to a valving system built into the packaging, layering the flavor on top of the cream, the company explained.

“Our peach mango has a peach and mango juice, and our strawberry has a strawberry juice, and the vanilla salted caramel is filled with a natural caramel, and brownie batter has a cocoa,” she said. “When you press the button and spray it, it’s kind of like the barista is hiding inside the can creating the magic.”

The Naturally New York judges, who consisted of a panel from Whole Foods Market, crowned the company’s vanilla salted caramel swirl whipped cream and three-minute presentation winner of the pitch slam. Companies were judged on presentation, storytelling, innovation, social impact, branding, packaging and market viability.  

The aerosol whipped toppings category has been flat over the past year. For the 52-weeks ended July 14, unit sales ticked up 0.9% to 188.2 million units while dollar sales for the period fell 0.6% to $734.7 million, according to the market researcher Circana, Chicago.

Whipnotic took notice of the rather flat category and began differentiating with its flavors and swirl button.

“(The whipped toppings category has) been pretty sleepy with very little competition and little upgrades or modernization,” Luckow said. “The category looked very similar. It was a can that looked the same across the board with a product inside with ingredients that looked outdated. It was unclear what the differentiation was.

“I think that when we share our product idea both to places like Naturally New York but also beyond, it reinforces that there is a lot of opportunity in this category. We’re starting to be pretty disruptive.”

Since winning the competition, Whipnotic gained access to a few new stores and stayed on its business plan of growing store count, gaining customer loyalty and growing at-home usage for at-home coffee users.

“The winnings will help us to better support our launches and ramp up our inventory so we can be a retail-ready partner and supplier,” Luckow said. “That was the reason we applied to Naturally New York Pitch Slam to begin with, to contribute to the continuous growth of the brand and for future creations and innovations.”

Plant-based jerky maker Jack & Friends claimed the audience choice award. The company won a $50,000 grand prize package and a $10,000 cash prize. Jack & Friends was founded by Jessica Kwong in 2019 to offer plant-based jerky formulated from jackfruit and pea protein.

Other finalists included: Brooklyn Best, a low sugar iced tea and lemonade line; Seedly Foods, a low-sugar, high-protein snack brand that promotes the benefits of seeds; and Struseli, a granola company that is formulated with no added sweeteners.