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Levi Roots
Keith Valentine Graham (born 24 June 1958), better known as Levi Roots, is a Jamaican-British businessman, celebrity chef, musician, television personality, author, and radio presenter. He came to prominence on the fourth series of the British TV show Dragons' Den where he successfully pitched his Reggae Reggae Sauce. According to the Sunday Times Rich List, Roots is worth an estimated £30 million.
Roots was born in Clarendon, Jamaica. He was raised by his grandmother after his parents moved to the United Kingdom, until he joined them at age 11. He was raised as a Christian, but converted to the Rastafari faith aged 18.
In 1981 Levi Roots cut the social consciousness roots rockers discomix Voice of the Poor-Poor Man Story with Fred Locks and Creation Steppers, whilst at the same time, making a name for himself in the roots reggae sound system world by chanting on the mic and selecting for Lloyd Coxsone sound. Later, he made a significant breakthrough in the reggae outernational by cutting tunes like Free your Mind with Fashion Records A-Class studio sound engineer Gussie P, Robbie Shakespeare, Bubblers, Ansell Collins, Mafia & Fluxy, Ruff Cutt, Sylvia Tella, and the Tenyue brothers, releasing a discomix of that tune which Jah Shaka sound played out regularly in 1997.
Roots has performed with James Brown and Maxi Priest and was nominated for a Best Reggae Act MOBO award in 1998. He was a friend of Bob Marley when he resided in the UK and performed "Happy Birthday Mr. President" for Nelson Mandela in 1996 on his trip to Brixton.
Levi Roots' Reggae Reggae Sauce is a jerk barbecue sauce. In 2006, 4,000 bottles of the sauce were sold at the Notting Hill Carnival.[citation needed]
He later took the sauce to a food trade show, where he was spotted by a BBC producer who approached him to appear on Dragons' Den. He appeared in the first episode of the fourth series in February 2007, seeking £50,000 of investment from the Dragons in return for a 20% equity stake in Reggae Reggae Sauce. Despite erroneously claiming that he had an order for 2.5 million litres of the sauce (when in fact the order was for 2,500 kilograms), he was offered the £50,000 for a 40% stake in his business by Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh. Shortly after his appearance on the programme, Sainsbury's announced that they would be stocking the sauce in 600 of their stores.
Roots claimed that the sauce recipe had been passed down to him by his grandmother. After being accused of stealing the recipe from a former friend and business partner, he said that he invented it himself and that the claimed family history was a marketing ploy.
Roots' first London restaurant, the Papine Jerk Centre, was on the Winstanley Estate in Battersea, Clapham Junction from 2010–2012. His children worked alongside him. The shop provided a lunchtime service to a local school, Thames Christian College. In December 2015, Roots opened his first franchise restaurant in Westfield Stratford City. It closed in 2019.
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Levi Roots
Keith Valentine Graham (born 24 June 1958), better known as Levi Roots, is a Jamaican-British businessman, celebrity chef, musician, television personality, author, and radio presenter. He came to prominence on the fourth series of the British TV show Dragons' Den where he successfully pitched his Reggae Reggae Sauce. According to the Sunday Times Rich List, Roots is worth an estimated £30 million.
Roots was born in Clarendon, Jamaica. He was raised by his grandmother after his parents moved to the United Kingdom, until he joined them at age 11. He was raised as a Christian, but converted to the Rastafari faith aged 18.
In 1981 Levi Roots cut the social consciousness roots rockers discomix Voice of the Poor-Poor Man Story with Fred Locks and Creation Steppers, whilst at the same time, making a name for himself in the roots reggae sound system world by chanting on the mic and selecting for Lloyd Coxsone sound. Later, he made a significant breakthrough in the reggae outernational by cutting tunes like Free your Mind with Fashion Records A-Class studio sound engineer Gussie P, Robbie Shakespeare, Bubblers, Ansell Collins, Mafia & Fluxy, Ruff Cutt, Sylvia Tella, and the Tenyue brothers, releasing a discomix of that tune which Jah Shaka sound played out regularly in 1997.
Roots has performed with James Brown and Maxi Priest and was nominated for a Best Reggae Act MOBO award in 1998. He was a friend of Bob Marley when he resided in the UK and performed "Happy Birthday Mr. President" for Nelson Mandela in 1996 on his trip to Brixton.
Levi Roots' Reggae Reggae Sauce is a jerk barbecue sauce. In 2006, 4,000 bottles of the sauce were sold at the Notting Hill Carnival.[citation needed]
He later took the sauce to a food trade show, where he was spotted by a BBC producer who approached him to appear on Dragons' Den. He appeared in the first episode of the fourth series in February 2007, seeking £50,000 of investment from the Dragons in return for a 20% equity stake in Reggae Reggae Sauce. Despite erroneously claiming that he had an order for 2.5 million litres of the sauce (when in fact the order was for 2,500 kilograms), he was offered the £50,000 for a 40% stake in his business by Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh. Shortly after his appearance on the programme, Sainsbury's announced that they would be stocking the sauce in 600 of their stores.
Roots claimed that the sauce recipe had been passed down to him by his grandmother. After being accused of stealing the recipe from a former friend and business partner, he said that he invented it himself and that the claimed family history was a marketing ploy.
Roots' first London restaurant, the Papine Jerk Centre, was on the Winstanley Estate in Battersea, Clapham Junction from 2010–2012. His children worked alongside him. The shop provided a lunchtime service to a local school, Thames Christian College. In December 2015, Roots opened his first franchise restaurant in Westfield Stratford City. It closed in 2019.
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