Levi Roots received £50,000 from Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh for a 40% stake in Reggae Reggae Sauce on Dragon’s Den.
Roots pitched his Caribbean-style barbecue sauce during the third series of the BBC programme in 2007. The offer became one of the show’s most memorable deals because Roots arrived with a musical presentation and connected the product to his career as a reggae performer. Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh jointly offered the requested £50,000 in return for equity.
The televised agreement was the starting point for a much larger commercial story. The sauce was subsequently produced and distributed through major retailers, while the brand expanded into other Caribbean-inspired foods. The company and product are often discussed under the later brand name Reggae Reggae, but the investment pitch is generally remembered as the Reggae Reggae Sauce deal.
The deal is sometimes confused with Roots’s earlier business name, which is a separate detail about the pitch rather than the amount invested.