Our Story

The Lupin Company – TLC - isn’t your ordinary online lupin one stop shop.

From recycling to vegan entrepreneur
Having been vegetarian since his teens and a vegan for the past decade, our Yorkshire-based founder and Chief Lupinist, Dr Jonathan Straight, always had an interest in new and innovative natural ingredients – as well as being an influential green entrepreneur and accomplished photographer. Embracing lesser-known plant-based food has long been Jonathan’s passion. A confident cook, he has always enjoyed experimenting with vegan foods and ingredients from around the world.

The Lupinist moment
In 2019, a friend who runs a charity in Bali, told our founder about an Australian company that supported their organisation. This was the first time Jonathan had ever heard of Lupinus Augustifulius – AKA Sweet Australian Lupin. Like the rest of us, he thought of lupins as quintessential cottage garden flowers.

Jonathan had a few bags of TLC Lupin Protein Flakes sent over and the rest is history. He was instantly converted to being a Lupinist!

Lupin hummus was Jonathan’s first adventure. Flapjacks, cookies, salads and casseroles all followed, each jam-packed with protein, fibre, minerals and goodness. Jonathan was 100% sold on this super healthy and versatile product and was happy to become the exclusive distributor for the UK market.

The Lupin Company – The UK’s No1 edible lupin specialist
For many years Jonathan had visited a small family business - a cafe in Leeds serving superb vegetarian food. Eventually, the business was being run by the second generation of the family and that is how he and Sandeep met. When her family decided to sell the cafe, Jonathan thought it was an opportune time to invite Sandeep to join The Lupin Company.

We’re now the UK’s leading specialist in edible lupins (but we’ll always leave lupin flowers for our gardening friends!).

Our mission
Jonathan and Sandeep share a long-life passion for plant-based diets. Their shared ambition is for The Lupin Company to help others to discover the joys and help benefits of using plant-based ingredients, benefitting themselves and also our planet.