Lupin, The Other Soy Meat

Photo - The New York Times

Last January I wrote about De Vegetarische Slager (The Vegetarian Butcher) and his lupin-seed-based "meats" from the Netherlands. Just under a year later, the New York Times is reporting that Jaap Korteweg's business is exploding, having "expanded its reach into 45 restaurants and retailing outlets across the Netherlands, with two more in the pipeline."

Lupin "Meat" -  devegetarischeslager.nl

Mr. Korteweg grows organic lupin as a food crop. In October last year, he and two partners, Marco Westmaas, a chef, and Niko Koffeman, an animal rights politician, opened De Vegetarische Slager, or The Vegetarian Butcher, in The Hague, selling vegetarian meat substitutes. In the year since, it has expanded its reach into 45 restaurants and retailing outlets across the Netherlands, with two more in the pipeline.

Alongside conventional soy-based products, De Vegetarische Slager promotes its own line of lupin-based meat-free foods, including lupin “meatballs” and croquettes and a lupin-flour bread.

Lupin has been shown to be superior to soy in myriad ways - from higher protein content to a lighter toll on the environment, to a better ability to grow in cool climates. It's only a matter of time before lupin "meats" start popping up in the United States.