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Root's reggae set to rock Sainsbury's shelves
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A CHEF who sang to impress investors on the TV show Dragons' Den will see thousands of bottles of his Reggae Reggae Sauce on Sainsbury's shelves. Levi Roots was making batches of the spicy sauce - a secret family recipe - in his kitchen in Brixton until five weeks ago when he asked the TV entrepreneurs for investment.
The singer, who was nominated for best reggae singer at the 1998 MOBO awards, wanted £50,000 to expand his business and was offering investors 20% of his business in return.
Peter Jones and Richard Farley (two of the Dragon's Den investors), each offered £25,000 in return for a 20% stake in his company, leaving Levi with only 60%. But the singer's risk has now paid off because Sainsbury's has announced that it will sell Reggae Reggae Sauce at 607 stores for the next six months.
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The spicy jerk/barbecue sauce will retail for £1.49 in an exclusive deal arranged by Peter Jones.
Following the announcement by Sainsbury's, Levi Roots said: "I cannot believe what has happened to me since appearing on the show.
It's been amazing and literally life changing. My phone has not stopped and it seems everybody everywhere wants a bottle of my sauce."
The sauce was previously only available on Roots' website or at the annual Notting Hill Carnival. Levi's company, Roots Reggae Reggae Limited, has granted a licence to G. Costa & Company, in Gwent, South Wales, to manufacture tens of thousands of bottles of sauce while protecting his secret recipe which has been handed down his family's generations and was entrusted to him by his late Jamaican grandmother, Miriam.
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