[0:00]Put some music in my food for me, and give me some reggae reggae sauce. Oh, reggae reggae sauce.
[0:12]It's so nice. I had to name it twice.
[0:16]I called it Reggae Reggae Sauce. Oh, Reggae Reggae Sauce.
[0:23]Put some reggae sauce on your lips.
[0:28]Thank you.
[0:31]My name is Levi Roots. I'm looking for 50,000 for 20% in my Reggae Reggae Sauce.
[0:38]I've been in the music business for over 30 years.
[0:43]I'm a producer, a singer, a songwriter and a chef.
[0:46]For 15 of those 30 years, I've been doing the Notting Hill Carnival supplying most of the stalls with my secret recipe sauce.
[0:56]I entitled Reggae Reggae Sauce. So, without further ado, I'd like to let you have a look.
[1:04]Right, the sauce, what is the sauce? Reggae Reggae Sauce is a hot to mild jerk barbecue sauce.
[1:11]It replaces the typical tomato ketchup or your hot pepper sauce. Tomato ketchup is boring, no flavor, just tomato.
[1:19]Hot pepper sauce is hot. No flavors, it ruins your food.
[1:24]With Reggae Reggae Sauce, it retains the flavors of the garlic, the peppers, the coriander, the scallion and all the herbs and spices which we put in.
[1:35]I've got a very nice order from a meat company in Yorkshire for, wait for it, 2 and a half million liters of Reggae Reggae Sauce as their first orders.
[1:45]We've had just like shook hands on a deal, I've had a nice letter from them which I have with me.
[1:49]Now, all we have to do now is just try and get production up to standard. Um, any questions please?
[1:58]It's rare for the Dragons to be serenaded for an investment, but will that help Levi Roots secure the 50,000 pounds he needs in return for a 20% share in Reggae Reggae Sauce?
[2:10]Theo Paphitis wants to know more about the entrepreneur in front of him.
[2:14]Levi Roots, what a great name. Is it your real name?
[2:18]No, it's my pseudonyms, my real name is Keith. I don't see him, he would have been 30 years in reggae if I was. Can I introduce Keith?
[2:30]You've just lost so much credibility. You should have lied to him and said yeah.
[2:34]What, do you had not if my mother calls me Keith, she calls me Levi, I've been known that ever since then.
[2:40]Oh dear, right. You mentioned a letter you had with an order for 2.5 million liters?
[2:45]Yeah. So have you got the letter with you? I have indeed.
[2:49]Well, would you pass that to Theo and let him read it while I ask you a few more questions?
[2:52]Certainly, no problem. And I think Theo must be this handsome guy right in front of me here. Ah, sold, I like you already.
[3:02]So, you've been selling this for 15 years. Yeah.
[3:06]At Notting Hill Carnival, yes. So how many bottles did you sell last year? 2 and a half thousand. 2 and a half thousand bottles at the carnival. Yeah.
[3:12]And approximately how much per bottle? 1.49.
[3:16]So about 4,000 pound turnover or something. The sauce actually cost 32 pence to make each bottle of this size.
[3:22]Where do you make it? How do you make it? Do you make it in your kitchen or or Yes, at the moment I make it at home in my kitchen, and my children help me and and we just sort of do it as the family there. Um, a very small kitchen, we're not we we can't do a very large amount at the moment.
[3:36]But can you legally make things like that in your kitchen and go out and sell them nationwide?
[3:40]Absolutely, because we've had we've had our letter and our confirmation from the food standard, which was the one of the first thing that I did. Have you spoken to anybody about what it takes to produce the kind of volumes that are going to be needed to fulfill these and what do you need to do?
[3:55]What I need to do is to rent a place. I mean, I won't buy or anything like that. I will just rent a premises, and I think the equipment will cost me about 25,000 for for for all equipment.
[4:08]You're 20 you need to spend 25,000 pound on equipment. Yeah.
[4:13]Levi is still sounding confident, but his ambitious plans mean transforming a cottage industry into a mass production line virtually overnight.
[4:22]Theo Paphitis has been studying Levi's paperwork and has some concerns about the order itself.
[4:29]I might have misunderstood you slightly because I thought you said that you had an order for two and a half million liters.
[4:40]That's not what this letter says. This letter says, if they were to try and market your product and if it was as successful as some of the other lines that are in national retailers, that's the sort of level that they would have to produce to make it happen.
[4:55]Is that your understanding? No, basically what he's saying to me, he says, look, we're ready to make an order as long as you can supply us with this. This is what we will do. Right.
[5:04]And and they're going to pay you a royalty of 5%. 5% provided that I can supply them, he will. So, within a month, I mean, he thinks that that will create about 390,000 packs.
[5:13]Yeah. Which will retail at about 1.7 million. So, 5% of that is you've got me. 85, 85. Okay. So that will be That will be that will be your royalty.
[5:29]Yes. Roughly. Roughly, yeah. That will be And then you're going to be selling these guys at 6.50 a liter. Per liter, yeah.
[5:37]What's that in real money? I think it's 16 million something.
[5:40]16, 16 and a half million.
[5:46]Although Levi's letter is not a firm order, he's still maintaining this potential deal could generate 16 million pounds, a huge turnover for such a small business.
[5:56]But Richard Farley thinks he's spotted a fundamental flaw in Levi's calculations.
[6:02]Levi, can I just uh, I just want to there's something I don't understand. Um, uh, you've got an order for 2 and a half thousand kilos. Is that the one you're saying is 2 and a half million liters?
[6:12]Yeah. Because I don't think that's right. Not 2 and a half thousand, 250,000, isn't it?
[6:21]2,500 kilos. It's 2 so it's 2 and a half. It's a lot less than you think it is. It's 2 and a half thousand. The order is for 2 and a half thousand kilos. Well, a kilo is about the same as a liter. If it's water, it's exactly the same.
[6:35]So it's not 2 and a half million liters, if you've got 2 and a half thousand kilos, it's 2 and a half thousand liters.
[6:40]Okay. So, 2 and a half thousand kilos is an issue requirement and then a potential every week thereafter of 500 kilos per week, which is about 25,000 a year.
[6:51]Okay. And you're getting 6 pounds per 6.50 per liter.
[6:57]Right. So, it's about 130,000 pounds worth of order per year. It's not 16 million.
[7:07]Richard Farley has exposed a disastrous miscalculation by Levi. Potential royalties aside, manufacturing the source himself would make him 130,000 pounds, but not 16 million pounds. Duncan Bannatyne has heard enough.
[7:23]Levi, there's no business in this.
[7:26]Um, so I'm going to let you know where I am and I'm not going to invest. So I wish you the best of luck but I'm out.
[7:33]Duncan Bannatyne thinks Levi's source has no future.
[7:38]Will the four remaining Dragons agree? Okay, let me let me tell you where I am.
[7:44]I think you've got a great business, but it's for you and you will do well out of it. It's not going to be on a big enough scale for me. So, thanks for bringing it here but I'm out. Thank you.
[7:54]Levi, let me come in here. That letter's not an order. It's not an order. And it's a hugely complex, difficult business to get into major supermarkets.
[8:06]In fact, I'd go so far to say you've got pretty well very little hope. If, on the other hand, the uh, that letter becomes a reality, the royalties alone on one line they're offering you is approximately 80,000 pounds.
[8:24]Then on top of that, you'll then receive your money for supplying the source. So at that stage, you actually don't need any help from anybody here if that comes to fruition.
[8:38]So, those are the two reasons why I won't be investing, so I'm afraid Levi, I'm out.
[8:44]Levi is staring disaster in the face. With three Dragons out in quick succession, his chances of securing the 50,000 pound investment are fading fast.
[8:54]Only Peter Jones and Richard Farley now stand between him and expulsion from the den.
[9:00]It's a little bit confusing because, I mean, you're a fantastic guy, you're a lot of fun, right?
[9:07]I always get there. Uh, I mean that's completely irrelevant really, because in terms of you managing a business, I'd be a bit nervous because as I discovered, you're not doing 2 and a half million liters, you're doing 2 and a half thousand liters.
[9:18]And I noticed you didn't sort of say, well, in that case, I'll only need a small room or less money. So you probably admit to me that your business skills probably would need a little bit of help. Absolutely, I would say that, yeah.
[9:27]So, I'm just sort of sitting here doing thinking, do I want to take a gamble, you know. Can can I just cut in to gives Rich a bit of time to think about whether he wants to gamble or whether to think about it because I'm I know where I'm going with it and I just want to be clear where I am.
[9:42]Okay. Um, I think that trying to get into this market, we know how competitive it is. It's seriously, seriously competitive. To try and range one product is kind of almost impossible.
[9:54]So, to let you know where I am, I like impossible challenges. Good. And I've been sitting here for 10 minutes. I've been actually started I can't believe this is the first time ever I've actually started to sweat.
[10:06]And I don't know whether it's the source that I've just taken, or actually whether it's what I'm about to say. Um, it is a complete punt, but I kind of probably would enjoy it.
[10:16]I've got a few people in the marketplace that I could introduce you to, but I'd want a little bit more of a slice, but I wouldn't want to take too much away from you because I think you need to earn a living.
[10:24]But I would offer you half the money for 20%.
[10:32]It's an extraordinary twist. Peter Jones has stepped in and offered Levi half of the 50,000 pounds he needs, but he's demanding the whole 20% equity stake in return.
[10:43]Under the rules of the Den, Levi must secure all the money he's asking for, or he leaves empty-handed. His fate now rests with Richard Farley.
[10:55]Is that an interesting offer to you? I mean, it just What is the only one. Oh, my God.
[11:04]Because on the one hand, we've got if this works, it's great. If if if it doesn't, it doesn't matter how many other sources you've got. Um, well, I so, um, we're talking about 25,000 for 20%.
[11:15]So, uh, now I think I think that's a fair that's that's not a it is a gamble, it is a punt. Uh, I'd match that, 25,000 for another 20%.
[11:27]So, you'd be talking 50,000 for 40% leaving you 60%.
[11:34]Richard Farley thinks there is money to be made from Levi's deal, but only if he has a big enough slice of the company.
[11:42]Levi could have the 50,000 pounds he's come for, if he's prepared to give the two Dragons double the equity he was originally offering.
[11:51]Will he be prepared to sacrifice such a large chunk of his business?
[11:59]Well, I came with, you know, thinking that I'm going to be tough like you guys. But I must admit, I have learned a few things here, you know, from you guys. Obviously, I'm always up for learning.
[12:09]And, um, I think that that deal, it's not ideal for me.
[12:14]But at the same time, I think this is going to do fantastic for the for for the sauce. So, I would accept gladly.
[12:24]Levi has done it. After a roller coaster ride in the Den, he's giving away 40% of his company, having gained 50,000 pounds and two extremely influential business partners.
[12:37]Now he really has got something to sing about. Put some music in the food for me and give me some reggae reggae sauce. Oh, reggae reggae sauce.
[12:50]It's so nice. I had to name it twice. I called it Reggae Reggae Sauce. Blessed.
[12:59]Dragon's Den.
