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Levi Roots

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Levi Roots
Roots at the Notting Hill Carnival 2010
Born
Keith Valentine Graham

(1958-06-24) 24 June 1958 (age 66)[1]
Clarendon, Jamaica
Nationality
Occupations
  • Businessman
  • musician
  • television personality
  • author
  • chef
  • radio presenter
Years active1982–present
Known forReggae Reggae Sauce
Children8
WebsiteOfficial site

Keith Valentine Graham[2] (born 24 June 1958), better known as Levi Roots, is a Jamaican-British businessman and celebrity chef currently residing in Daventry, Northamptonshire who first came to prominence on the fourth series of the British TV show Dragons' Den successfully pitching his Reggae Reggae Sauce product. According to the Sunday Times Rich List, Roots is worth an estimated £30M.[3]

Early life

[edit]

Roots was born in Clarendon, Jamaica.[4] He was raised by his grandmother after his parents moved to the United Kingdom, until he joined them at age 11.[5] He was raised as a Christian, but converted to the Rastafari faith aged 18.[6]

Career

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Music

Roots has performed with James Brown and Maxi Priest and was nominated for a Best Reggae Act MOBO award in 1998.[7] 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.[8]

Reggae Reggae Sauce

He gained widespread fame after appearing on the UK television programme Dragons' Den in 2007, where he gained £50,000 funding for his Reggae Reggae Sauce.

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.

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.[9]

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.[10]

Restaurants

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.[11][12] In December 2015, Roots opened his first franchise restaurant in Westfield Stratford City.[13][14] It closed in 2019.[15]

Books and television

Levi Roots' Reggae Reggae Cookbook was published in 2008, with a foreword by Roots' investor, Peter Jones. The book has chapters on Roots' story of coming to London and an introduction to Caribbean ingredients. To coincide with the release of his recipe book, Roots appeared on the 3 June 2008 episode of BBC's Ready Steady Cook as a celebrity. He achieved second place against Lesley Waters.

Roots had a television cooking show, Caribbean Food Made Easy, on BBC2, with a book of the same name published in August 2009.[16] The show followed Roots as he travelled the UK and Jamaica demonstrating easy ways to cook Caribbean food at home.

Roots appeared on Celebrity Mastermind in 2010, coming second with 13 points. He also appeared on Big Brother, where he cooked a Caribbean barbecue for the housemates. Roots also made a special appearance in the 2011 urban comedy movie Anuvahood where he plays himself. On 22 February 2018 he appeared in the 8th episode of the 7th series of the BBC detective programme Death in Paradise. He played the part of Billy Springer.

Roots entered the twenty-third series of Celebrity Big Brother on 4th March 2024 and was evicted on 15th March 2024, along with fellow celebrity Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, after spending 11 days in the house.

Personal life

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When he appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs Roots said that his relationship with his father had been a difficult one, because his father was "a bit of a stranger." He said: "My brothers and sisters all went to school before they left Jamaica but, being the youngest, I never got any education while I was there. I think that I was a bit of a disappointment to him."[citation needed]

Roots has eight children with seven different mothers.[17][18] He has previously been imprisoned for drug offences.[19]

Roots has been arrested twice. Aged 15 he was sent to Pentonville prison for six months, charged with assault on a police officer. In 1986, police raided the youth club he ran, and he was convicted again for possession of drugs.[20]

Roots was appointed Chair of St Pauls Carnival in Bristol in 2021.[21]

Roots became Patron of RIFT Social Enterprise in May 2024, a not-for-profit organisation which supports people with convictions and the long/term unemployed into self-employment.[22]

Roots is a twice honorary doctor with the University of the West of England and the University of Westminster.[23][24]

[edit]
  • "Official website of Reggae Reggae Sauce".

References

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  1. ^ Roots confirmed on a Facebook Live Video on his Facebook page this morning (24/06/21), that it is his birthday today.
  2. ^ "Series 80, Episode 84". Countdown. Channel 4. 25 October 2019.
  3. ^ "My first boss: Reggae Reggae Sauce entrepreneur Levi Roots". uk.news.yahoo.com. 26 November 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  4. ^ Dixon, Rachel (9 August 2014). "Levi Roots on Jamaica". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  5. ^ Enfield, Laura (13 July 2016). "Levi Roots says he is lucky to have come to Britain and reveals the secrets of his success". The Wharf. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  6. ^ "Levi Roots". Desert Island Discs. 22 July 2016. BBC Radio 4.
  7. ^ "Best Reggae Act MOBO Nomination". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
  8. ^ Oonagh Turner (28 August 2018). "Interview With Levi Roots". timeandleisure.co.uk.
  9. ^ "Dragons' Den chef tastes success". BBC News. 7 March 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2013.[permanent dead link‍]
  10. ^ "Levi Roots tells court he lied about grandmother's Reggae Reggae recipe". the Guardian. 16 November 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Papine Jerk School service and closure". 21 March 2013.
  12. ^ "Reggae Reggae Sauce". Dragons’ Den Investors. 19 April 2019.
  13. ^ "Levi opens his first Caribbean restaurant". Levi Roots.com. 12 July 2015.
  14. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. ^ Lake, Emma (26 June 2019). "Levi Roots closes Caribbean Smokehouse in Westfield Stratford City". The Caterer. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  16. ^ Roots, Levi (4 August 2009). Caribbean Food Made Easy. Mitchell Beazley. ISBN 978-1845335250.
  17. ^ Hughes, Ruth (17 July 2016). "From the bard to spice: Jerk sauce entrepreneur reveals how he made MILLIONS after prison". Express.co.uk.
  18. ^ Paul Simper, Sixty seconds with Levi Roots, Metro, London, 19 January 2022, page 18.
  19. ^ "From reggae to riches: Levi Roots' story to be made into movie". The Guardian. 12 May 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  20. ^ Wiseman, Eva (24 May 2008). "Stir it up". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  21. ^ "St Pauls Carnival: Levi Roots is appointed as chair". BBC News. 29 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  22. ^ "Our Team".
  23. ^ https://www.uwe.ac.uk/news/levi-roots
  24. ^ https://www.westminster.ac.uk/news/university-of-westminster-awards-honorary-doctorate-to-levi-roots
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