Mark our words: The sweet lupine, or rather its seeds, is one of the crucial foods of the future. Our favorite Influencer Vince, a die-hard lupine expert, knows why. Let him tell you all about our favorite plant, its powerfood properties, and how we turn them into vegan deliciousness.
The sweet lupine is one hell of a miracle. With the protein of its seeds, we can recreate the taste you know and love in dairy products.
But how does their environmental footprint compare to cow’s milk and other vegan alternatives? Spoiler alert: We’ve got ourselves a winner.
Yes, it’s true, we think cow’s milk and dairy products are pretty great. Their taste, anyway. When it comes to animal welfare, climate, and environmental responsibility, however, it’s not that great. Not at all, to be fair.
There is so much we can do for a climate-friendly, life-sustaining future – animal products tend to be the anti-heroes in this story.Cow’s milk is consistently wasteful regarding CO2 emissions, land use, and water consumption compared with plant-based alternatives.
Curtains up for vegan alternatives
No worries though, by now we’ve got the solution: vegan alternatives. That doesn’t imply that you have to go completely vegan starting now – nobody’s perfect, and that’s okay. But we like to celebrate the fact that there’s such a huge range of high-quality vegan alternatives to milk and dairy products out there.
Because in the end, we all want the same thing: to make the world a little bit better by reducing the ‘moo’ in our food. And yet, even among the vegan alternatives, we can see significant differences. Did you know that among common dairy alternatives, rice produces the highest CO2 emissions and oats take up the most land for production? Or that the almond alternative uses nearly 400 liters of water per liter? And that 80 percent of soybeans come from the USA, Brazil, and Argentina? We don’t mean to bash anyone, but it’s time to face the facts.
Time to let the sweet lupine take over
We’ve always been certain of one thing: Rice, soy, oats, peas, almonds, and coconuts are not the end of the line – there was still more to come! And that’s exactly how it went down: The sweet lupine shakes it all up with sensationally good numbers for CO2 emissions, land use, and water consumption (see graphic). And what’s more, it improves the soil while binding nitrogen, it doesn’t require genetic engineering, it’s loved by bees, and it’s grown locally in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
So the facts are clearly in favor of the sweet lupine. And the taste of our products, well, it speaks for itself.
“There are already so many alternatives to dairy products – what do we need the sweet lupine for?” We sincerely love that question because it gives us an excuse to talk about how unique and awesome the qualities of this plant and its seeds really are. Not only for delicious food but also for the environment.
We feed you all the lupine facts you need to become just as much of a fan as we are. No sugarcoating, no bullshit.
The secret is: lupine protein isolate (LPI). Sounds romantic, right? Using a patented, gentle, and sustainable manufacturing process, we isolate the particularly valuable protein fractions from the seed of the lupine.
This results in a high-quality protein, LPI, which is completely neutral in taste. This enables us to adapt the taste and feel of our product to that of its dairy counterpart.
It’s probably obvious, but with the LPI, we really didn’t choose the easy way. Still, the almost three decades of research were absolutely worth it.
‘Hero’ is a big word, but those who take so little and give so much deserve it. For example: The production of lupine-based products emits 7x less CO2 than equivalent products made from cow’s milk. It also uses about 5x less water.
But hey, that’s only the beginning
The sweet lupine has always stayed grounded – and the ground loves that. Because the lupine lives up to its reputation as a soil improver.
It binds nitrogen from the air and feeds it into the soil. This is great for fertility and the subsequent crops (those plants grown in the same field after the lupines are harvested).
Also ideal for subsequent crops: Lupines mobilize some of the poorly soluble phosphate in the soil, and their root system makes nutrients available to plants. Speaking of roots, lupines loosen and aerate the soil with their taproots up to 2 meters deep. Conclusion: Lupines are a wellness vacation for any field.
Apropos Wurzeln: Mit ihren bis zu 2 Meter tiefen Pfahlwurzeln lockern Lupinen den Boden auf und belüften ihn. Fazit: Lupinen tun jedem Feld richtig gut.
… the lupine was already an important food source. As early as 3,000 years ago, the sweet lupine was a staple food in Greece, Egypt, and South America, among other places.
Back then, the protein-rich power food was mostly eaten as porridge. So it’s high time that the lupine and its multi-talented seeds celebrated a renaissance. It doesn’t have to be in the form of porridge though.
When it comes to the lupine, people are not always on the same page: When your neighbor upstairs talks about the lupine, he might mean a completely different lupine than the lady one floor down.
That’s because there are 164 different species of lupine – and only the sweet lupine produces seeds for direct consumption without pre-processing. That’s due to their low content of bitter substances.
By the way, sweet lupine species were first bred in 1930 by German breeder Von Sengbusch. Has anyone built a statue of the man yet?
Yes, love is in the air. Bees and bumblebees adore their nectar-rich blossoms 🐝
It’s true, their purple appearance looks appetizing, but the plant itself should definitely not end up on your plate. Only its seeds are edible, and they usually are processed into other foods. Under no circumstances should you eat the seeds of a wild lupine raw, as they contain poisonous bitter substances. The seeds of the sweet lupine, on the other hand, are edible and come with a fantastic nutritional profile 🏅
The wild varieties of the lupine contain bitter substances that used to have to be boiled or washed out. It’s only since the 1930s that the sweet lupine, which is poor in bitter substances, has been cultivated. For a long time, the cultivation of cash crops, such as rapeseed or cereals, was also more lucrative for many farmers. Since 2015, however, cultivation has been on the rise again. With LUVE, we’re on a mission to ensure that the good reputation of the lupine reaches as many fridges as possible 📢
The sweet lupine can be grown sustainably in Germany, and its seeds provide high-quality protein. The lupine protein isolate (LPI) we produce enables us to develop alternatives to dairy products that are incredibly similar in taste and consistency. Learn more about the unique features of the sweet lupine here.
Trends come and go, the lupine stays! It has already been around for 3,000 years. Today, it’s our mission to ensure that the sweet lupine and its unique talents become even better known, even more popular, and even more present on the cooling shelves.
