Caribbean Food Emporium

 

 

 

Reggae Reggae Sauce Launch

20th April 2007. - All roads led to Lambeth Town Hall in the heart of Brixton for the Reggae Reggae Sauce Official Launch. Levi Roots wanted to hold the launch in his home town, and a 500-strong crowd attended to celebrate his success. People came from far and wide for this event. Guests from as far as the Midlands came down. A mixed crowd of Caribbeans, Asians, Africans and English people made up the enthusiastic attendees.

The evening was divided into two sections. Firstly, working in partnership with GLE One London, a Business Reception was held from 6.30pm with speeches from a number of key people and Levi himself. Levi Roots is keen continue to engage with businesses and would-be entrepreneurs within the Lambeth Community.

The reception was hosted by Henry Bonsu, and informative speeches were given by Dianne Abbot MP, Wade Lyn - Manufacturer of Island Patties, Tim Campbell- Sir Alan Sugar's first Apprentice winner. Also speaking was Carole Litchmore who is the Head, Equalities & Diversity Dept. at Lambeth Council, Dianne Edwards, General Manager of Wray and Nephew, Katie Moore of Business Start Up, and Mavis Amankwah of Rich Visions Int Ltd. Geoff Schumann also attended, interviewing various guests for his Radio London Sunday night show. Speakers congratulated Levi, and encouraged the audience to consider starting businesses or growing existing businesses.

People need to realise how ground breaking this is for the Caribbean Food and Drink Industry. Even established brands such as Walkers Wood, and Grace have not achieved national distribution. Encona hot sauces is probably the closest in widespread availability - since it outsells Tabisco sauce, and can be found in many convenience stores around the country. Usually the multiples will only place Caribbean products in areas of high ethnic population. We hope this will open the doors for a floodgate of other products to develop and become mainstream.

The great news is that nearly 900,000 bottles of the Reggae Reggae Sauce sold, and in some Sainsbury's stores the product was outselling Tomato Ketchup. Some branches however were not keeping up with restocking the shelves. For once the product comes into those stores, it is sold very quickly. For instance one fan from a farm in Grantham. Lincolnshire said their local Sainsbury's had trouble keeping up with the demand, for people were buying two or more bottles as soon as it appeared on the shelves. There was also a scarcity in Brixton - oddly enough. There is an exclusive contract with Sainsbury's to enable them to sell the sauce, so although other supermarkets are interested, they cannot retail it until suitable contracts are negotiated after August 2007.

The second section of the evening started from around 8pm. The DJ played, and various reggae artists performed. The host was David Chen of Ben TV and Caribbean Connection. With his strong Jamaican accent and Levi's ringing over the microphone all night, I found myself thinking in a Jamaican accent when I got home. (Quite a feat when you are not Jamaican) There was a real roots and culture feel to the occasion. Whatever happens, it was pleasant to see that Levi is not planning to lose contact with his roots. The event was filmed by two camera crews, so no doubt we'll see it pop up on television in the near future.

Levi took the stage to give us his life story. He spoke about his grandmother and mother teaching him how to cook, the importance of the family's secret recipe for the Reggae Reggae Sauce. He spoke of struggling for 15 years to create and sell the sauce privately. His encounter with Business support agencies such as One London, enabled him to be exposed to a wider market. Nadia Jones of One London, encouraged him to exhibit at the World Food Market, and it was there a BBC Dragon's Den Scout approached him to take part in the show.

Levi went through the behind the scenes happenings on the day Dragon's Den was filmed. How his guitar string broke - twice, and he eventually had to play with a string missing, and the guitar slightly out of tune. Although he had arrived at the studio from 6am, he had to wait till nearly 6pm before going in, and watched a stream of people coming out having been turned down. He candidly spoke about getting the figures wrong, on national TV and asked the audience if they saw him sweating. He entertained the audience with honesty and humour. In a similar way he had won two of the Dragon's Den's heart when he told them he is a musician, not a mathematician, and when he makes it he will hire people to help with the figures.

Catering at the Launch was provided by Northern Range, Rum Punch was provided by Jewel Isle Production. Promotion for the event was undertaken by various groups, including - Caribbean Food Emporium, Caribbean connection, Gold Empress, 100 Acres Media Ltd, Depeche Events. Profits made on the night were donated to Sickle Cell Anaemia charity.

The evening ended with a strong performance from Levi - the Reggae Artist with his Dub Asante Band. He sang for one hour, and finished with a ska version of the Reggae Reggae Song. It was ironic - he said that after all these years of not making money out of music, the profits from this popular single was being donated to Comic Relief - but he wanted to give back.

As an accomplished Reggae Performer the audience were well and truly entertained. The band were tight and professional, and Levi's charisma and obvious vocal talent came through. Even representatives from Peter Jones Company stayed all night and appeared pleased excited at the phenomena that is Levi Roots.


Dawn Grant

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