UK plant-based brand Symplicity has debuted its new Cranberry & Sage Roast at Waitrose stores, described as an indulgent centrepiece with ‘deep umami flavour’ built through slow fermentation.

The product is made with cranberries, fragrant sage and crunchy seeds, developed by chef Niel Rankin, who built his name running ‘meat-focused’ restaurants in London. Rankin said years of ‘live-fire, whole-animal cooking’ left him convinced of our need to consume less meat, focusing on fermentation as ‘the flavour unlock needed to convince people to change their diets’.

Like all of Symplicity’s products, the new roast centrepiece starts with slow fermentation to build ‘deep flavour complexity,’ lacto-fermenting vegetables using the same, centuries-old, traditional technique used to make kimchi.

Mushrooms, onion and beetroot are slowly fermented then combined with butter beans, sweet cranberries and sage in the development of the product, finished with sunflower, pumpkin and flax seeds to add texture and bite.

The finished product is described by the brand as ‘rich, deeply savouring and satisfying,’ with sweetness from the cranberries and a golden finish perfectly suited to seasonal Sunday lunch occasions and Christmas celebrations.

Rankin commented: “Roasts are already predominantly vegetables, but the protein or centrepiece has always been a blind spot for professional cooks and home cooks. I’m not excited by dry nut roasts – and heavily processed mimics always feel to me like a bad imitation that, while clever, never quite hits the mark.”

He added: “I believe in simple cooking, great ingredients and in fermentation, which gives vegetables the depth and richness you actually crave.”

Each 150g serving of the ‘non-UPF’ roast contains 29g of protein, rivalling traditional meat roasts, alongside 9g of fibre. The roast also contains 11 ‘plant points’ – different varieties of plant-based ingredients – with plant diversity and minimal processed foods now widely recognised as supportive of a healthy gut microbiome.

Symplicity Cranberry & Sage Roast is available in all Waitrose stores from 10 September 2026, priced at an RRP of £7.95 and launching with £6 as an introductory price per 300g pack.