It’s so nice I had to name it twice

I call it Reggae Reggae Sauce,

hot Reggae Reggae Sauce.

So nice with your friend chicken,

make burgers finger-licking,

in your rice and peas or fish,

just put Reggae Reggae Sauce on your lips.

So nice with fish and chips,

and in a vegetarian dish,

as a marinade or as a dip,

we a go bless the Reggae Reggae Sauce

Nice on your lips.

BY chanting this reggae ditty, Levi Roots, a Jamaican living on welfare in the United Kingdom charmed and convinced investors and the British public to buy into an idea he had that is now worth in the region of £30 million.

That idea was Reggae Reggae Sauce and the investors were Richard Farleigh and Peter Jones on the British television show, Dragon’s Den. The show sees entrepreneurs pitching varying business ideas to a panel of five wealthy investors, with the hope of obtaining financial backing.

Speaking with the Sunday Observer at the recent local launch of his Reggae Reggae Sauce which has now evolved into a line of foods, Levi Roots, who was born Keith Valentine Graham, and migrated to England from the community of Content in Clarendon, gives all praise to reggae music for his fortune on Dragon’s Den and the resulting success.

Today, he sees reggae as his USP — unique selling point. Although he admits that he knew very little of this business terminology prior to Dragon’s Den, he now totally understands the concept and works it to his advantage on a daily basis.

“My USP is the fact that I am merging music with food. It’s what made me stand out on Dragon’s Den, and continues today. No successful business can operate without a USP.”

Sporting a suit by the famed British designer Oswald Boateng, Levi Roots is now a confident author, television host and motivational speaker.

“Music was always in my blood. I was raised by a grandmother who was a great singer in the Baptist Church, and therefore grew up singing in the church. The music so consumed me that I simply could not function in school here in Jamaica and in the UK, as all I ever wanted to do was music.”

So, once he completed his secondary education, Levi Roots hit the streets landing his first job in music at the age of 16 — a selector on a sound system in England.

For the young Levi Roots this was a dream. He was involved in what he wanted, touring the world and having a great time.

By 1981, he would seek to make inroads in the reggae music industry by releasing the single Poor Man’s Story. The story was autobiographical as it told the story of persons living on the streets with no money and living ‘on the dole’ (popular name for welfare cheques in the UK).

“The track became an instant hit,” Levi Roots recalls, “as persons were able to relate to the story, therefore it resonated with young people in the UK.”

It would take a few more years of joining the lines every Thursday to collect his dole cheques for Levi Roots to realise that he was stuck in the comfort zone of the music business, without having anything to show. But he admits that stepping away from something about which one is passionate, like he was about the music, is always a difficult choice. “Even though it was a lot of praise without raise, I kept on saying to myself that the music business would always get better for me, my day fi buss big nuh come yet,” he added casting aside his British accent momentarily for his strong authentic Jamaican tongue.

However, he seemed to hit rock bottom in 2005 when he realised that his growing family needed to be supported in a much more substantial way that the dole offered. So Levi Roots turned to his next passion — food — with the conviction that he could merge both.

He had heard of Dragon’s Den and decided to pitch his Reggae Reggae Sauce to the Dragons, hoping they would add their fire to his spicy sauce. Armed with his guitar, he confidently stepped up to the Dragons and slew them with the sounds of reggae, while pitching his Reggae Reggae Sauce, a barbeque and dipping sauce he says was handed down from his grandmother.

The £50,000 investment and an immediate undertaking from UK-based mega chain Sainsbury’s to sell his sauce in their 600 outlets, set in motion a true modern-day rags to riches tale.

That was back in 2007. Now Levi Roots has added other products including drinks and other food items to his Reggae Reggae line, but always maintaining that USP of merging his music with food.

Now he is taking on his latest challenge of introducing the products to Jamaica noting; “If it nuh buss a Jamaica, it nuh really buss.”