Chef Neil Rankin – who built his name cooking meat over fire – ferments his way to a new kind of centrepiece with a Cranberry & Sage Roast. Available in all Waitrose stores from 10th September 2026, just in time for autumn/ winter 2026.
Symplicity launches its first roast into Waitrose nationwide today – an indulgent centrepiece of sweet cranberries, fragrant sage and crunchy seeds, with deep, rich umami flavour built through slow fermentation. Developed by chef Neil Rankin, it is the newest release from a brand that launched its first retail products into Waitrose earlier this year and is already used in 1,000+ professional UK kitchens, including Dishoom and Gordon Ramsay restaurants.
Rankin built his name running some of London’s most meat-focused restaurants. Years of live-fire, whole-animal cooking left him convinced that we needed to eat less meat and fermentation was the flavour unlock needed to convince people to change their diets. Every Symplicity product starts the same way – with slow fermentation that builds deep complexity and umami. Rankin lacto-ferments vegetables in the same tradition as kimchi, building flavour the way cooks have for centuries.
The new roast follows the same approach. Mushrooms, onions and beetroot are slowly fermented to unlock depth, complexity and umami, then combined with creamy butter beans, sweet cranberries and fragrant sage, with sunflower, pumpkin and flax seeds adding texture and bite. The result is rich, deeply savoury and satisfying, with sweetness from the cranberries and a golden finish – an indulgent centrepiece made for Sunday lunch as roast season begins, with Christmas one occasion rather than the only reason to eat it.
“Roasts are already predominantly vegetables but the protein or centrepiece has always been a blindspot 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. I believe in simple cooking, great ingredients and in fermentation, which gives vegetables the depth and richness you actually crave. That’s why chefs like us so much and we now want to bring it to the mass market.” – Neil Rankin
The nutrition holds its own too. Each 150g serving contains 29g of protein – a protein count that rivals traditional roast meats – alongside 9g of fibre. The roast is high in protein, high in fibre, contains 11 plant points and is not ultra-processed.
“Launching our first range into Waitrose this year showed us there’s an appetite for what we’re doing with fermentation. For vegetables to get that restaurant-quality depth you often end up relying on lots of butter, oil or salt. Fermentation offers an alternative way, building depth, complexity and umami into the vegetables themselves. For us, it’s the ultimate flavour unlock. It also keeps the nutritional benefits like protein, fibre and plant points. The roast is a really exciting next step in showing what fermentation can do.” – Alan Wogan, CEO and co-founder, Symplicity.
Symplicity Cranberry & Sage Roast, 300g, is available in all Waitrose stores from 10th September 2026, RRP £7.95, launching with £6.00 as an introductory price.
