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Gourmet pickle maker finds success is sweet

By Tammy Cillone Poughkeepsie Journal
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I hear people say, 'I'm going to bottle this,' and I think, 'Yeah, OK.'
Tracy Krawitt maker of Spacey Tracy's Pickles
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Tracy Krawitt's career has spanned the gamut, ranging from teaching to bartending to creating her own gourmet pickle line.
The Staatsburg resident admits her work experiences wouldn't lend themselves to making and marketing the pickled goods that are showing up in places like the Millbrook Village Deli, the Pavilion bar in the City of Poughkeepsie and Kaycey's Restaurant in Hyde Park.
Krawitt said the gourmet spears, called Spacey Tracy's, wouldn't have been possible with­out the help of Hudson Valley Foodworks in the City of Poughkeepsie.
"Most people give up in their first year of business. I gave up my job to devote hours and hours of time to this and that's the one thing they've taught me is to never give up," Krawitt said.
Most people have no idea of what is required to produce food items, she said, citing requirements like submitting a "doing business as" or DBA form, getting approval from the Food and Drug Administration. obtaining insurance and designing product labels.
"I hear people say, 'I'm going to bottle this,' and I just think yeah, OK,'" she said.
Krawitt said to ensure she meets food safety regulations, she has to make six or seven

Lee Ferris / Poughkeepsie Journal
Tracy Krawitt, owner of Spacey Tracy's Pickles, checks a label on a jar of jalapeno mint jelly at Hudson Valley Foodworks. Working with her is Luc Roels, Foodworks production manager.
versions of the same recipe, noting even the most insignificant changes made in each batch before sending the final edition to Cornell Cooperative Extension's Venture Center, a division of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Ontario County. The center follows producers' instructions exactly to make sure they are complying to regulatory agencies like the PDA and the state's Department of Agriculture and Markets.
The kitchen incubator, which opened in 1998 to aid caterers, restaurateurs and specialty food producers, is the only facility of its kind in the mid-Hudson Valley. And Krawitt credits the Main Street facility's success on the dynamics of the experts who work at Foodworks.
"It's not the facility, it's those guys," she said of those experts.