A chef, musician and entrepreneur

Bringing with him the essence of laidback Jamaican cool, Levi Roots was the own into the forefront of the nations consciousness in 2006 thanks to a successful stint on the BBC 2 programme, Dragon’s Den.

His apparent immediate success and the popularity of Reggae Reggae sauce was in fact a long time coming. Levi’s story starts in Jamaica, where as a young boy he lived with his grandmother. It was here that he learnt the magic of cooking and started to love the natural ingredients that are paramount in great Jamaican food.

Since joining his family in England, Levi has kept the Caribbean sunshine in his life through his music and cooking. Continuing to make his grandmother’s legendary jerk sauce, perfecting and refining his own secret recipe to create the taste sensation that he named Reggae Reggae Sauce. Alongside cooking, Levi’s love of Reggae and Roots music brought him to perform with some great musicians culminating in him being nominated for 'Best Reggae Singer' at the 1998 MOBO Awards.   

Creating a fusion between the food he was cooking and the music he was playing, Levi opened a stall, the ‘Rasta’raunt’, at the 1991 the Notting Hill Carnival.  The Rasta’raunt proved the perfect platform for Levi to showcase musical talent and culinary skills, selling an array of delicious foods – including the now infamous Reggae Reggae Sauce ‐ whilst playing his music to the masses.  The Rasta’raunt was so popular it is now an annual fixture at Carnival.  It’s from here that Reggae Reggae Sauce has gone from strength to strength! 
 
Back in 2006, Levi was spotted at the World Food Market by a BBC researcher, who invited him to appear on the popular programme Dragons’ Den.  With the support of his family and some divine inspiration Levi bravely faced the Dragons, quite literally singing the praises of his sauce.  This proved to be the perfect combination for Levi, winning him the backing of two Dragons including entrepreneur Peter Jones.   With Peter’s support, Reggae Reggae Sauce secured listings in Sainsbury’s stores nationwide from February 2007 -no mean feat for an unknown brand! Since then the demand has been phenomenal, with approximately 2 million bottles of Reggae Reggae Sauce sold.  
 
This success continued to blaze a trail throughout 2007 with the sauce stocked in all major UK supermarket chains.   On the back of its success, by the end of 2007 two new sauces were launched into the market ‐ Love Apple Tomato Ketchup and Fiery Guava Dipping Sauce.  In the meantime Reggae Reggae Sauce reached it’s own level of notorietycame to the attention of the UK CoolBrands council and has been voted as a CoolBrand for 2008/2009.
 
With his new range of 5 tasty cooking sauces just released in November 2008, and several new ventures in the pipeline for 2009 the sky is the limit for the Levi Roots brand, which will always embody the flavours of Levi’s Jamaican heritage.

ENTREPRENEUR LEVI 
•    was thrown into the forefront of the nation’s consciousness in 2007 thanks to a successful stint on the BBC 2
•    programme ‘Dragon’s Den’ where he introduced his home‐made Reggae Reggae Sauce. 
•    received the backing of entrepreneurs Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh on the show and gave away a 40% 
•    stake in his business. 
•    won an initial exclusive listing at Sainsbury’s almost immediately after  appearing on the show for his Reggae  
•    Reggae Sauce with the help of Dragon Peter Jones. 
•    now has three successful sauces under the LEVI ROOTS brand which are widely available (more below). 
•    shares his knowledge on the business circuit, with schools and various charitable enterprise  initiatives. 

CHEF LEVI
•    first created a local buzz in 1991 with his now 16‐year old ‘RASTAraunt’ music and food stall at the Nottinghill Carnival. 
•    has a Take‐away Eaterie in Battersea, South London called ‘Papine Jerk’. 
•    has just launched his Reggae Reggae Cookbook via Harper Collins (more below). 
•    is a popular TV guest appearing on cookery programmes such as Market Kitchen, This Morning and Ready Steady Cook. 
 
MUSICIAN LEVI  
•    received a MOBO nomination in 1998 and has performed with artists such as James Brown and Maxi Priest. 
•    released the official Reggae Reggae Sauce song ‘Proper Tings’ on the back of his Dragon’s Den appearance
•    with the proceeds going to Charity.  
•    is currently finalising his next roots reggae album due out later in the year. 

Book Levi Roots now

To book Levi Roots for your event, or to discuss your requirements further with one of our consultants, contact us via the web, or call +44 (0) 1628 636 600.

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