Can Lupin Compete With Leading Plant-Proteins?

Lupin is a protein-packed bean and it’s on the rise. Over the past few years it has started popping up in new formats from protein bars, powders, flour, pasta to plant-based meat, egg, and dairy products. Here’s what counts as revolutionary these days, though: Lupin is not a novel form of protein – it wasn’t fermented, created in labs or grown in stainless steel bioreactors. The protein-packed legume has roots that date back thousands of years and served as a key protein source for indigenous populations spanning from ancient Egypt to the Andes Mountains. So why is the CPG world now giving this ancient legume a second look?

What is Lupin?

Lupine, lupin, lupini all refer to the same legume. It grows in two varieties: sweet lupin, the most widely-available for commercial use and is also known as Mediterranean or Australian lupin, and chocho, a non-hybridized form which has a higher alkaloid content, must be processed before consumption and is only grown in the Andes Mountains. The sweet lupin is favored by product developers due to its “brighter color and milder, but pleasant, flavor,” according to Kantha Shelke, principal of food science and research firm Corvus Blue. However, the sweet variety has slightly less protein (30-40%) compared to chocho, which is more than 50% protein.

The low carb and high protein content also make it a safe option for low glycemic foods. Low-sugar snack brand HighKey incorporated lupin flour as an almond flour substitute for its cracker line, which debuted last May.

“Crackers are traditionally full of carbs which in turn convert to sugar when it is digested by the body,” said John Gibb, chief innovation officer at HighKey. “By using lupin flour in combination with almond flour, our crackers remain low-carb and have a naturally higher fiber and protein content.”

BRAMI and newly launched Kaizen Food Company are also honing in on the benefits of lupin, entering the alt-pasta arena with products made from the legume. This spring BRAMI introduced pasta made with two ingredients, lupin and semolina flour, direct-to-consumer exclusively with Thrive Market. Nearly simultaneously, The Kaizen Food Company debuted with its inaugural offering – a lupin pasta made from lupin flour, fava bean protein, tapioca starch and xanthan gum. The products both use the Mediterranean variety of the bean, which boasts 80% less net carbs and nearly double the protein of chickpea-based pastas, according to Kaizen. The company’s co-founder and CEO, Arash Hashemi, said the next challenge facing lupin-focused brands is consumer education.

“With lupin, we are where we were with chickpeas about 15 to 20 years ago,” he stated. “There’s definitely a learning curve for the consumer, but the characteristics and attributes of the product are so compelling that it gives us the opening to be able to have that dialogue with the consumer.”

One thing that could get consumers on that learning curve quickly is a looming chickpea shortage, due to supply chain constraints and extreme weather conditions.

Pastas and crackers aren’t the only products using lupin. Two Ecuador-based companies, Mikuna Foods and AWA Nutrition, have each recently introduced protein powders made with the Andean variety, chocho, in the U.S.. According to Mikuna, the powders are meant to familiarize Americans with chocho: the products’ broad flexibility – it can be used both as a flour substitute in baked goods or a protein-add for sauces and soups, will help the brand accomplish that goal.

Lupin products also include vitamins and minerals like iron, magnesium and calcium in addition to all nine essential amino acids. The flour form has natural emulsifying properties and, according to Giovanni Santi, founder of Santi Consulting, the legume is easier to work with than lentils, chickpeas and beans. It also acts similar to wheat flour and performs similarly to yellow pea flour in extruded products. But Shelke and Santi noted, the legume has limits. For one, it may cause a reaction to consumers who have peanut allergies, according to researchers with Oklahoma State University.

Another limit is it needs to be used in combinations in some formats.

“Lupine flour… cannot be used as the only source of protein or as a base ingredient because it does not match the functionality of say soy, wheat or corn in every way,” said Shelke. “So, a 100% lupine pasta would not work but a 100% lupine snack would work because it can create a new, or even improved upon, extruded product.”

How readily available is lupin?

The brands and experts also cite the ingredient’s sustainability attributes as a reason it could become a popular plant-based protein source. It uses minimal water and has a regenerative nature: As lupin plants grow, their roots deposit carbon back into the soil. The ingredient’s potential as a sustainable protein has brought it attention from younger consumers, said Shelke and Santi, but ramping up production to support a lupin takeover will not be as easy.

According to research from the Frontier in Plant Science, the current supply chain for lupin is “insufficient to support widespread use.” Currently the top lupin producing countries are Australia, France and Canada, however, researchers believe that more advanced forms and new lupin varieties, in addition to new brands, will be needed in order to support “socio-economically and environmentally sustainable cultivation.”

“Novel processes should be optimized to obtain high-quality, safe lupin protein ingredients, and marketable foods need to be developed,” the study notes. ”With such an integrated strategy, lupins can be established as an alternative protein crop, capable of promoting socio-economic growth and environmental benefits in Europe.”