Levi Roots: How Music, Food and One Sauce Changed His Life
From a childhood in rural Jamaica to reggae music, Dragons’ Den and a major British food brand, Levi Roots has built a career that mixes food, business and personality.
Last Updated on September 16, 2026 by Business Blog Media Editorial Team
Introduction
Levi Roots is a Jamaican-born British entrepreneur, chef, reggae musician, author and television personality. Most people know him as the man behind Reggae Reggae Sauce.
His story became widely known in 2007.
He walked into Dragons’ Den carrying a guitar. He sang about his sauce. Then he walked out with a £50,000 investment from Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh.
That moment changed everything.
Still, his story started decades earlier.
Quick Facts About Levi Roots
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full legal name | Keith Valentine Graham |
| Professional name | Levi Roots |
| Born | 1958 |
| Birthplace | Content, Clarendon, Jamaica |
| Age | 68 in 2026 |
| Nationality | British |
| Profession | Entrepreneur, chef, musician, author and TV personality |
| Known for | Reggae Reggae Sauce |
| Famous TV appearance | Dragons’ Den in 2007 |
| Music genre | Reggae |
| Children | Eight |
| Main company | Levi Roots Reggae Reggae Foods Limited |
| Company status | Active |
| Honorary degrees | UWE Bristol and University of Westminster |
| Current activity | Food business, appearances, speaking and mentoring |
Who Is Levi Roots?
Levi Roots was born Keith Valentine Graham in Jamaica in 1958.
Food made him famous. Music came first.
For years, Roots worked around Britain’s reggae scene as a singer, musician and producer. He later mixed that musical identity with Caribbean cooking.
Then came Reggae Reggae Sauce.
The sauce took a small food operation into major UK supermarkets and turned Levi Roots into a household name.
His personality helped too.
He didn’t enter Dragons’ Den like a standard businessman. Guitar in hand, he sang his pitch.
People remembered him.
Levi Roots’ Early Life in Jamaica
Roots was born in Content, Clarendon, Jamaica.
He was the fifth of six children.
His parents were Lassel and Doreen. They moved to Britain while Levi was still a young child, hoping to work, establish a home and later bring their children over.
Levi stayed in Jamaica.
His grandparents raised him.
His grandmother Miriam had a particularly strong influence on his childhood. He spent time around her kitchen and watched how she prepared Jamaican food.
That experience stuck.
His grandfather Emanuel worked the land. Roots has recalled a childhood surrounded by crops such as sugar cane, yams, sweet potatoes, okra, onions and Scotch bonnet peppers.
Food was close to home.
Very close.
The family grew much of what they ate.
Roots has said he had little formal schooling during these early years. His childhood education looked very different from the classroom life he later entered in Britain.
Moving From Jamaica to Britain
At around 11 years old, Levi moved to Britain to join his parents.
The change was tough.
Rural Jamaica was gone.
Now he was living in South London and entering secondary school despite having very little previous classroom education.
Reading and writing were difficult at first.
His mother stepped in.
Roots has recalled meeting her at Tulse Hill library, where she helped him learn to read and write.
He worked hard enough to catch up.
After school, he briefly trained in engineering. Music soon pulled him in another direction.
That became his focus.
How Levi Roots Started in Music
Long before supermarket shelves carried his name, Levi Roots was working in reggae.
He became involved with London’s sound-system culture and performed with Sir Coxsone Outernational.
Roots developed as a reggae singer and producer.
He also spent time working with musicians and producers connected to Jamaica’s reggae scene.
His music career included songs such as Poor Man Story, Sweet Africa and Shashamane City.
In 1998, he released the album Free Your Mind.
That same period brought wider recognition when he received a MOBO nomination in the reggae category.
Roots later released more music, including Jah Will Never Let You Down, Red Hot and Rise Above.
Music never disappeared from his public image.
Even his biggest business moment began with a song.
Food, Carnival and Reggae Reggae Sauce
Roots spent years around Notting Hill Carnival.
Music was one part.
Food became another.
He ran a Caribbean food stall and sold dishes inspired by Jamaican cooking. His children also helped with the early operation.
The sauce became a key item.
Roots developed what became known as Reggae Reggae Sauce, a Caribbean-style jerk barbecue sauce with sweet, spicy and smoky flavours.
At first, this was still small business.
Bottles were not filling supermarket aisles.
Yet.
Levi Roots on Dragons’ Den
Everything changed in 2007.
Roots appeared on BBC’s Dragons’ Den seeking money to grow his sauce business.
His pitch was unusual.
He brought his guitar.
Then he sang.
His Reggae Reggae Sauce song became one of the programme’s memorable moments.
The numbers during his pitch weren’t perfect. He even made a large mistake while discussing potential orders.
Still, two Dragons saw something worth backing.
Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh offered the money.
Roots secured £50,000.
The deal gave the two investors a combined 40% stake at that stage.
For Roots, the doors suddenly opened.
The Sainsbury’s Break
The TV appearance quickly led to something much bigger.
Sainsbury’s began stocking Reggae Reggae Sauce.
Hundreds of stores carried it.
Demand grew fast.
A business that had previously relied heavily on Levi and his family now needed proper large-scale manufacturing and distribution.
The brand moved beyond a single sauce.
Over time, Reggae Reggae branding appeared across different Caribbean-inspired food products.
Roots was no longer simply selling sauce at events.
He had become a national food entrepreneur.
Is Levi Roots Still Involved With Reggae Reggae Foods?
Yes.
Official UK company records show Levi Roots Reggae Reggae Foods Limited remains active.
The company was incorporated in February 2008.
Levi Roots’ legal name, Keith Valentine Graham, appears as an active director.
Official filings also identify him as a person with significant control in the company.
His declared control sits above 50% and below 75% of its shares and voting rights.
So he remains closely connected to the business carrying his name.
The Reggae Reggae Sauce Legal Case
There is one part of the sauce story that needs careful wording.
In 2011, Anthony Bailey brought a High Court case claiming rights connected to the sauce recipe and business.
Roots denied stealing the recipe.
The court dismissed Bailey’s claims for breach of contract and breach of confidence.
The case also brought attention to an early marketing story about the sauce.
Roots acknowledged in court that the claim that the commercial recipe had simply been handed down by his grandmother was not literally accurate.
His grandmother’s influence on his cooking is well documented.
But those are two different claims.
That distinction matters.
Levi Roots’ Books and Cooking Career
Roots used his food success to move into publishing.
His books include:
- Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae Cookbook
- Caribbean Food Made Easy
- Food for Friends
- You Can Get It If You Really Want
- Spice It Up
- Sweet
- Grill It with Levi
Most focus on Caribbean-inspired food.
His business book, You Can Get It If You Really Want, takes a different route. It talks about building a business, taking chances and learning from personal experience.
Television Career
Dragons’ Den opened plenty of TV doors.
Roots later presented Caribbean Food Made Easy for BBC Two.
The programme mixed cooking with travel and Caribbean culture.
He has appeared on several other programmes and entertainment projects.
In 2018, he played Billy Springer in Death in Paradise.
Then, in 2024, Roots entered the Celebrity Big Brother house.
He was later evicted during a double eviction.
TV remains part of his public career, though food and business are still what most people connect with his name.
Levi Roots’ Restaurants
Roots has tried restaurant ownership as well.
His Papine Jerk Centre operated in Battersea, South London.
It later closed as Roots focused more heavily on his larger food business.
In 2015, he opened the Levi Roots Caribbean Smokehouse at Westfield Stratford City.
That restaurant closed in 2019.
As of 2026, Roots is not known to operate a permanent restaurant under his name.
His packaged-food work continues.
Levi Roots’ Family and Children
Roots comes from a large family and is himself a father of eight children.
He has publicly spoken about fatherhood and his family history.
Some of his older children helped during the early days of the Reggae Reggae operation.
They worked with food preparation, bottles and the small family business before it reached national supermarket shelves.
Roots has kept parts of his current personal relationships outside the public record.
For that reason, claims about a current wife or partner should not be treated as confirmed without a clear source.
Community and Education Work
Business is only one part of his later work.
Roots has spent years speaking with young people about business, identity and personal choices.
His School of Life Tour took him into schools, colleges, universities and other institutions.
He has often talked openly about mistakes from his younger years.
That includes periods when he came into contact with the criminal justice system.
Roots has described those experiences as part of the change that shaped his later life.
He now uses parts of that story while speaking to students and young entrepreneurs.
St Pauls Carnival and Bristol
Roots has strong links with Bristol.
In 2021, he became chair of St Pauls Carnival.
He already knew the city through earlier food and carnival work.
His formal directorship ended in October 2024.
So older profiles describing him as the current chair are now out of date.
Honorary Degrees
2024 was a big year for academic recognition.
UWE Bristol awarded Levi Roots an Honorary Doctor of Letters.
The award recognised his business career, community work and connection with Bristol.
The University of Westminster also awarded him an honorary Doctor of Letters in July 2024.
These are honorary academic awards.
They should not be confused with an earned research doctorate.
What Is Levi Roots’ Net Worth?
No reliable public record confirms Levi Roots’ exact personal net worth.
You may see figures such as £30 million repeated online.
That number is often mixed with estimates of brand value or business success.
Those are not the same thing.
Personal wealth requires knowing assets, debts, investments, ownership structures and other private financial information.
That information is not fully public.
The safe fact is simple: Levi Roots built a successful multimillion-pound food brand, but his exact personal net worth is not publicly verified.
What Is Levi Roots Doing Now?
Roots remains active.
His food company is still registered as an active UK business.
He continues making public appearances and talking about food, entrepreneurship and Caribbean culture.
In June 2026, he returned to Jamaica and gave a live culinary demonstration at the University of Technology, Jamaica.
Students cooked alongside him.
He also spoke about his childhood, migration, business experience and Jamaican identity.
Decades after starting in music, Roots is still mixing the same parts of his life: food, reggae, Jamaica and business.
Final Thought
Levi Roots had an unusual road to business fame.
He started in rural Jamaica. Then came South London, reggae music, carnival food and a small sauce business.
One television pitch changed its scale.
But the sauce alone doesn’t explain his long public career.
Roots built a recognisable identity around things he already knew: Jamaican food, reggae music and his own personality.
That identity still follows him in 2026.
Reggae Reggae Sauce remains his best-known creation, while Levi Roots himself has grown into a familiar British business and television figure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Levi Roots’ real name?
Levi Roots’ legal name is Keith Valentine Graham.
How old is Levi Roots?
He was born in 1958 and is 68 years old in September 2026.
Where was Levi Roots born?
He was born in Content, Clarendon, Jamaica.
What is Levi Roots famous for?
He is best known for creating Reggae Reggae Sauce and appearing on Dragons’ Den in 2007.
How much did Levi Roots get on Dragons’ Den?
Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh agreed to invest a combined £50,000 in his business.
Does Levi Roots still own Reggae Reggae Sauce?
Levi Roots remains an active director of Levi Roots Reggae Reggae Foods Limited and official company records show he has significant control over the company.
How many children does Levi Roots have?
Levi Roots has publicly said that he has eight children.
What is Levi Roots’ net worth?
His exact personal net worth is not publicly verified, so fixed online estimates should be treated carefully.
