The Levi Roots story
“Put some music in my food for me, and give me some Reggae Reggae Sauce, hot Reggae Reggae Sauce. It’s so nice I had to name it twice, I call it Reggae Reggae Sauce, hot Reggae Reggae Sauce, put some Reggae Sauce on your lips.”
In 2008, after singing those words to a panel of stony-faced entrepreneurs on Dragons’ Den, Levi Roots launched himself into the public consciousness and onto supermarket shelves up and down the country.
Today, Reggae Reggae Foods remains one of the most successful businesses to ever appear on the BBC show, and now has a product range that includes numerous table and cooking sauces, seasonings, snacks, and soft drinks. Roots himself has become one of the UK’s most well-known entrepreneurs, with regular appearances on TV, and as a public speaker.
Born in Claredon, Jamaica at the tail end of the 50s, Roots learnt the secrets of Caribbean cooking from his Grandma, and also discovered a love for music in her church choir. In the 70s, he was finally able to join his parents and five older siblings in London.
Over the following decades, alongside his work as a musician and producer, Roots would make his signature sauce in his kitchen in Brixton and sell it from a bag on his back. In 1991, he combined his passion for food and music to open the Rasta’raunt, a hugely popular annual fixture at Notting Hill Carnival. However, it would be another 16 years of rejection from banks and investors – who thought the product was “too Black” – before a chance encounter with a BBC researcher led to his life changing experience in the Den.
via https://www.AiUpNow.com
October 25, 2020 at 08:16PM by Henry Williams, Khareem Sudlow
