01
Chef-led sauce platform
Recipes built by working chefs across jerk, mango heat, and seasoning craft.
Oakland · Chef-LedBlack & Woman-OwnedSauce · Catering · Culture
More food.
More life.
Sol Roots is an Oakland food venture from Courtney Smith, Chef Joseph Hall, and Chef Ferman Twain Jr. We are building from the kitchen out: chef-made sauces, Afro-Caribbean flavor, catering roots, and a brand made for real tables, real events, and real community.
The Venture
Built from the kitchen out.
Sol Roots starts with sauce, but the larger play is food culture with operating discipline. Jah Jah Jo's is the first proof point: jerk, mango heat, chef-tested recipes, real collaborators, and a flavor lane that can move from events to bottles to wholesale conversations.
02
Oakland-founded
Made in Oakland, in commercial kitchens, with collaborators from the Town.
03
Jah Jah Jo's first product line
Two launch SKUs with clear flavor roles, real labels, and a brand world behind them.
04
Catering · pop-ups · wholesale roadmap
Events and catering today; bottled retail and wholesale conversations next.
Roadmap
Kitchen-to-market, step by step.
Recipes prove out in the kitchen. Batches scale through commissary runs. Events introduce the flavor live. Partners extend reach. Wholesale follows when the line is ready.
First Line · Jah Jah Jo's
Jerk sauce with a real kitchen behind it.
Jah Jah Jo's is the first sauce line under Sol Roots. It brings together Chef Joe's jerk foundation, Courtney's Afro-Caribbean vision, Ferman's seasoning instincts, and local collaboration with Aburaya and MP Catering. The result is sauce made for food first: chicken, seafood, rice bowls, ribs, eggs, vegetables, and whatever is coming off the grill.
Chef-madeGluten-freeOaklandFirst line
Jah Jah Jo's
Batch No. 001
Jerk Sauce
Layered Caribbean heat
Heat
5 FL OZ · 148 ML
Made
Oakland, CA
Format
5 oz · 148 ml
Batch
#001
01 / First LineJah Jah Jo's
Jerk Sauce.
Role in the line · Signature anchor
Built for chicken, ribs, rice bowls, and smoke.
This is the foundation sauce. Scotch bonnet brings the floral heat, habanero rounds it out, and Thai bird's-eye gives it a clean finish. Allspice, thyme, ginger, pineapple, mango, molasses, and vinegar keep it deep, bright, and built for cooking.
Heat●●●●○Very HotChef-madeGluten-freeOaklandFirst line
Tasting Notes
AllspiceScotch bonnetThymePineappleMolasses
Ingredients
- Habanero, scotch bonnet & Thai bird's-eye chilies
- Jamaican allspice, nutmeg, cloves
- Fresh thyme, rosemary, ginger
- Green & white onion, garlic
- Pineapple, mango purée, lemon
- Molasses, cane sugar, tomato paste
- Vinegar, gluten-free soy, grapeseed oil
- Black pepper, sea salt
Pairs With
- Jerk chicken · pork shoulder
- Grilled fish · shrimp
- Rice & peas · plantains
- Smash burger · breakfast eggs
Town collaboration with Aburaya & MP Catering.
Jah Jah Jo's
Batch No. 002
Mango Hot Sauce
Sunshine first, slow burn
Heat
5 FL OZ · 148 ML
Made
Oakland, CA
Format
5 oz · 148 ml
Batch
#002
02 / First LineJah Jah Jo's
Mango Hot Sauce.
Role in the line · Accessible crowd favorite
Sweet first, then the heat shows up.
Ripe mango leads, then habanero and Thai bird's-eye come in underneath. Lime, ginger, pineapple, and allspice keep it bright. This is the easy one to pass around the table, but it still has backbone.
Heat●●●○○HotChef-madeGluten-freeOaklandFirst line
Tasting Notes
MangoHabaneroLimeGingerAllspice
Ingredients
- Ripe mango purée, pineapple
- Habanero & Thai bird's-eye chilies
- Fresh ginger, garlic, onion
- Lime juice, lime zest
- Jamaican allspice, cloves
- Apple cider vinegar
- Cane sugar, sea salt
- Grapeseed oil
Pairs With
- Grilled shrimp · jerk chicken
- Tacos al pastor · fish tacos
- Pork belly · ribs
- Cheese plates · cream cheese
Pour it on the table. It will not be sitting there long.
The Founders
Three partners.
One kitchen standard.
Sol Roots is not a logo looking for a product. It comes from people who cook, cater, test, feed, and build together. Courtney shapes the concept and Afro-Caribbean direction. Joseph leads the sauce foundation. Ferman brings the seasoning range, soul food instincts, and production discipline.
L → R · Joseph Hall · Courtney Smith · Ferman Twain Jr.
Co-Founder · Chef & Sauce Lead
Joseph Hall
Chef Joseph Hall brings 22 years across Bay Area restaurants, bars, catering, and events. His background includes Kin Khaoat Parc 55 in San Francisco during its Michelin-star period and co-sous chef work at Montperi Catering in Oakland. Jah Jah Jo's starts from his jerk sauce foundation.
Co-Founder · Concept & Brand Direction
Courtney Smith
Courtney sparked the Sol Roots concept from the food, flavor, and family energy already around the team. She drives the Afro-Caribbean direction, the brand's point of view, and the push to make Sol Roots feel rooted, useful, and alive.
Co-Founder · Chef & Seasoning Lead
Ferman Twain Jr.
Born in Oakland, Ferman brings Italian, Cajun, soul food, and spice-rub range to the kitchen. He works alongside Joe as co-sous chef at Montperi Catering and helps turn the flavor ideas into food that can hold up in real service.
“Sol Roots is everything I learned, bottled. Caribbean roots, California ingredients, and the discipline of cooking for real people.”
— Chef Joseph Hall
Quietly Operational
Built like a food business, not a side project.
Product
Two launch sauces under Jah Jah Jo's with clear flavor roles: signature jerk and mango heat.
Operations
Recipes, batch logic, costing tools, and production planning are being organized behind the scenes.
Channels
The brand can grow through events, catering, pop-ups, local partnerships, and future wholesale conversations.
Culture
Oakland, Afro-Caribbean flavor, chef discipline, and food people actually want to eat.
Brand Framework
Flavor is the foundation. Impact is the growth.
Oakland-born, rooted in flavor, built to grow. The four stages of the Sol Roots framework: chef-led sauces, catering roots, local partnerships, and a path to future wholesale.
Next Conversation
For partners, backers, events,
and the next conversation.
Sol Roots is in development. For partnership conversations, event inquiries, production support, or stakeholder access, reach the team directly.
solrootsllc@gmail.com