A new kind of vegetarian meat, produced from lupin beans (a high protein legume seed), is available in Portugal, in the form of hamburgers, croquettes, and even products similar to bacon, sausages, shawarma or chicken.
The product is sold in Portugal exclusively by Talho Vegetariano, a shop dedicated to selling this type of ‘meat’, as a distributor for Vegetarische Slager, a Dutch company created by biologist and farmer Jaap Kortweg, the original creator of organic vegetarian meat.
The meat was created for vegetarians as well as non-vegetarians, and must be cooked prior to being eaten. In Holland, there are already 500 stores selling the vegetarian meat and producers are in talks with fast food giants KFC and McDonalds.
Currently, the product is not available at any shop in the Algarve, with the closest one being in Beja (Ervanária Solvita), but the management is already planning to open an online ‘store’.
