One regenerative agriculture company wants to change that, because it is commonly used for livestock feed in Western Australia.
Perth-based Wide Open Agriculture WOA recently opened a processing facility to turn the legume into protein powder.
The protein product could be used in plant-based meats, dairy-free milk, and could be used as a protein formula, according to WOA managing director Ben Cole.
What this technology does is it unlocks it for human food consumption, according to Mr Cole.
Cole said attitudes towards soy were changing as an ingredient in vegan products.
We are now actively looking for things that aren't soy, and we believe that lupin protein is a good rival, and that's why we're sending samples to.
Buntine farmer Stuart McAlpine grows lupins regeneratively - a practice that supports soil biology and minimising the use of modern pesticides and chemicals.
He said that the problem with lupins is that they're not very attractive to grow because of their economics.
Soy is a common ingredient in vegan foods and has a market value of more than 65 billion.
McAlpine wouldn't speculate on whether lupins could become the next soy, but he said it had potential and grew well in Western Australia.
He said that soy is a summer crop, and a lot of it is under a lot of irrigation and a lot of technology.
I think lupins can be attractive for that kind of market. Agriculture Minister Allannah MacTiernan said regenerative farming would help reduce the carbon footprint and meet the world's net zero targets.
We still believe that having lupins and other legumes in the rotation is important for agriculture.
If we can improve the price that farmers get for lupins, that's going to encourage them to bring those back into the rotation.