The Catalyst
Ideas with a spark, energy, range and the ability to start things.
Levi Roots, born Keith Valentine Graham on 24 June 1958 in Clarendon, Jamaica, is a Jamaican-British entrepreneur whose brand sits alongside Heinz, Marmite and Hellmann’s in British supermarkets. He arrived in the UK aged 11 after being raised by his grandmother, whose teaching forms the explicit emotional and commercial anchor of the Reggae Reggae Sauce brand.
“It happened within Saints Reason, broke home records to do with condiments in there, just within a few weeks. So just going back to the mentorship situation, that's what mentor does, because for me, that's what Peter Broughton.”
“Order for Riga Rigga sauce. Imagine you're praying for something all your life and all of a sudden, you know, I'm doing 67 bottles in my kitchen, 67 bottles. And within a week, Peter's called his friend Justin King, the chief of Sainsbury's, and said, did you see Levire Dragons then? Justin says, yes, I did.”
“Is a new me, but I'm not going to hide all that. I'm still not Rafterman from Brixton that had all the problems. But had in that new way of thinking to that and use those skills to sell the sauce, those natural flair from being on the street.”
“For instance, I think one of the key things that's going to sort of block small businesses because of Brexit is red tape. Again, this is one thing that affects small businesses, is that time is your most important thing. Whereas bigger companies cannot throw time and be able to get you.”
Off The Agenda Season 1 (2021)
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