Levi Roots grateful to grandma for success

Leaving Jamaica at the age of six with his grandmother's secret ingredients tucked away in his suitcase, Keith ‘Levi Roots’ Graham had no idea that a few pimento seeds and his grandmother’s cooking skills would later reap remarkable success. 

The Jamaican-British musician and entrepreneur now attributes much of the success with his United Kingdom best-selling Reggae Reggae Sauce to his grandmother, Miriam.  

“I remember my grandmother had packed in my suitcase a bag of pimento seeds and she said ‘Tek that to the UK’. And we know pimento is a key ingredient and I took that to the UK and many years later, I was approached to go on BBC’s Dragons’ Den,” he said during a special culinary demonstration at the University of Technology (UTech), Jamaica ,on Thursday.

In 2007, he walked into the popular British show carrying his sauce in one hand and his guitar slung across his shoulder, and, according to him, armed with authenticity and a special family recipe. He secured a £50,000 investment. Nearly two decades later, according to The Sunday Times Rich List, Levi Roots is worth an estimated £30 million. So, in his address to students, he stressed the importance of remaining authentic while building a brand.

“When I appeared on Dragons’ Den 20 years ago to share my grandmother's recipe for a jerk sauce, I wanted to do it as a Jamaican, hence me merging my two Jamaican passions together which was cooking and music. So it is always about your culture. I always say to young people don't create a product first, create the brand and the brand must be you the person,” he told THE WEEKEND STAR. He was advised not to sing  for the business people, but after asking his mother for taxi fare, she told him to take up his Bible and read Psalm 23.

“When I got to the point that says ‘I shall not want’, she said ‘Stop’. Everyone is telling you not to be yourself … but she said ‘Be the authentic you’.”

Now reflecting on his success, he said that his sauce is the second biggest selling sauce in the UK, second only to Heinz tomato ketchup. 

“So the message I will leave with you today is, guess what? Don't undermine who you are by comparing yourself to someone else.”

Levi Roots grew up in Clarendon as the youngest of six children. His parents had migrated to the UK during the Windrush generation in search of work. They later sent for their children  one by one. But with him being the last to leave Jamaica, he spent more time learning from his grandmother.

“I couldn't even spell my first name but one thing that my grandmother did is, she taught me to make that sauce how she normally did back in Clarendon. I took that recipe with me,” he said, adding that his grandmother never witnessed his success, having passed away when he was just 13. Drawing from those family experiences, Levi Roots highlighted the importance of supporting children in whichever career path they choose.

“The first role model any young people should have within the business they want to elevate must come from inside the home. Parents, you have to inspire young people to pass down the knowledge,” he said.

Looking at the opportunities available through gastronomy today, he encouraged aspiring culinary professionals to take advantage while remaining true to themselves.

“Any investor will always be looking to invest in the person, so not because you are from a poor background means you can't vision yourself from the highest of the highest and that is why it is important to invest in our own self,” he said. “Many, many years ago it did not seem like a career because cooking and even just having chefs as role models was not the case. Things have changed now and food is the new rock and roll.”

Levi Roots' culinary engagement coincides with his visit to Jamaica for the 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference 2026. But as he stood in the lobby of the school of UTech’s Hospitality and Tourism Management, he told THE WEEKEND STAR that such educational opportunities were not readily available when he was growing up.

“It’s not about coming and learning to cook, but how can you take it much further, and that's the difference between going to any other university to learn about food and gastronomy. But here you learn the whole works and I am impressed,” he said.