Lupins for Life: Driving innovation with a healthy pulse

INNOVATION FINALIST 2018: COLLABORATION and dedication has helped the Drew family from southern NSW create a farm-to-fork operation like no other.

Siblings Gary Drew, Roger Drew and Chris Johnston at the Lupins For Life processing plant at Jindera, NSW. They co-own the business.Picture: DANNIKA BONSER

COLLABORATION and dedication has helped the Drew family from southern NSW create a farm-to-fork operation like no other.

Gary Drew treats his Lupins for Life business “a bit like marriage”.

The Riverina farmer started with the romantic idea of putting his undervalued albus lupin pulse crop on dinner plates — rather than in feed troughs.

“This isn’t just an add-on business to a farming enterprise, but a stand-alone business with a bigger vision,” says Gary, who launched Lupins for Life three years ago with his wife, Heather, and siblings, Roger Drew and Christine Johnston.

Lupins were originally a rotational crop on the Drews’ Brocklesby property, where they also grow wheat, canola and run Merino sheep. Harvesting lupins for livestock fodder was the ultimate waste, in Gary’s eyes.

“It’s low in carbs, salt and fat,” says Gary’s brother, Roger, who researched lupins’ health credentials when he agreed to help Gary turn his business idea into reality.

“The products are 43 per cent protein and 30 per cent fibre, much better than quinoa and chia, and nowhere near the price to grow.”

The family is an innovative team. Gary manages the farm, Heather develops recipes, Roger oversees strategy and Christine is in charge of operations.

“It is very satisfying to see how far they (Roger and Christine) have taken the business in a short time,” Gary says.

The family fitted out a factory at Jindera with second-hand machinery and adapted it to process their entire 100-hectare annual lupin harvest. They produce lupin flakes, flour, kibble, crump and semolina. Sales are gaining momentum, with customers, retailers and wholesale customers seeking out the high-fibre alternatives to traditional grain flours.

Having spent two decades involved in pulse trials with the NSW Department of Primary Industries, Gary and Heather are confident their sweet-seeded varieties will win over Australians on taste and health credentials. “Lupin is just such an under-utilised food source that should be explored to its full potential,” Gary says.

By launching Lupins for Life, the Drews have already staked their claim.

FINALIST Farm Magazine Innovative Farmer of the Year 2018

LUPINS FOR LIFE, Gary and Heather Drew, Roger Drew and Christine Johnston, Brocklesby, NSW

FARM MAGAZINE: GARY AND HEATHER DREW, ROGER DREW AND CHRISTINE JOHNSTON