Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Peter Ivey. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Peter, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
The Reggae Chefs is a personal chef service that fuses Jamaican food and culture for a unique dining experience. Our purpose is to promote and preserve our culture to the world authentically and responsibly. The idea for The Reggae Chefs came at a pivotal time in my life. I migrated from Jamaica to New York City in the year 2000 and experienced a number of personal challenges and failures. After a few years I found myself in the city of Las Vegas where I attended my very first Reggae concert.
It was at this concert where I first witnessed the mass consumption of Jamaican culture. Our music, food and culture were on full display in front of a packed stadium in another country. The world had an appetite for Jamaica in a way I never imagined. As I walked around the venue, I realize that there were people selling Jamaican food and merchandise and none of the merchants I saw were Jamaicans. The moment made me realize how valuable my culture is and I contemplated how I could play a role in responsibly and authentically disseminating it to the world.
How do we creatively fuse the icons of our culture to deliver excitement, nostalgia and a dining experience? The idea for The Reggae Chefs was borne. Since 2012 our customers have been selecting their chefs, menu and “edutainment” for a fully customizable experience anywhere they like.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Peter Ivey, and I’m a social entrepreneur, food security activist, chef, children’s book author, and speaker. I’m the Founder and CEO of three interconnected companies: The Reggae Chefs, Mission:FoodPossible (M:FP), and PIII Culinary Kit. Each venture addresses different aspects of food culture, security, and culinary education, but they all share a common thread—using food as a vehicle for cultural celebration, empowerment, and social change.
My path into this industry has been shaped by a deep love for Jamaican culture and a growing awareness of global food insecurity. As a chef, I saw firsthand how food brings people together, tells stories, and preserves heritage. But I also recognized the disconnect—how many communities lack access to nutritious, affordable food, and how traditional knowledge about indigenous crops is being lost. Being able to travel and learn about food systems in over 35 countries opened my eyes to both the challenges and opportunities in food security.
The Reggae Chefs is a Jamaican cuisine personal chef and catering service that brings authentic Jamaican flavors to intimate gatherings and events. We typically serve groups of 2–15 people, using traditional spices, seasonings, and ingredients to create memorable culinary experiences. What sets us apart is our customizable business model and strong cultural alignment—we’re not just serving food, we’re sharing Jamaica’s rich culinary heritage and stories with every dish.
Beyond The Reggae Chefs, I founded Mission:FoodPossible, a non-profit dedicated to combating hunger, promoting food security, and reducing food waste. Our motto is “Train. Empower. Sustain.” We’ve impacted the diets over 20,000 students across 21 schools in 5 parishes in Jamaica through our 3-day interactive workshops that cover food security, food preparation, safety, and knife skills. Forbes recognized our work as “possibly the answer to the world’s hunger crisis,” and our team is the main subject of the documentary “Real Jamaican Food,” which is currently making its way through international film festivals.
We also created PIII Culinary Kit, the world’s first culinary uniform and supplies company focused on socially minded chefs. Our partnerships with institutions like the University of Technology and Jamaica College ensure that the next generation of chefs not only has the tools they need but also connects to Mission:FoodPossible’s training programs.
At The Reggae Chefs, we solve the problem of authenticity and cultural connection. Many people want to experience genuine Jamaican cuisine but don’t know where to find it or how to prepare it themselves. We bring that authentic experience directly to them, whether it’s for an intimate dinner party or a special celebration.
More broadly, through our work with Mission:FoodPossible, we’re addressing food insecurity by teaching communities how to prepare low-cost, nutritious meals using indigenous and locally available produce. We’ve developed the Most Valuable Produce (MVP) scoring tool, a proprietary system that identifies indigenous crops—like yams, breadfruit, dasheen, callaloo, ackee, and cassava—that can help alleviate hunger. Our work is grounded in UN Sustainable Development Goal #2 (Zero Hunger) and addresses five SDGs total, including Gender Equality, as the majority of our trainees are women.
What makes us unique is the integration of culture, education, and social impact. The Reggae Chefs isn’t just a personal chef and catering company—it’s part of a larger ecosystem designed to preserve cultural heritage, empower communities, and create pathways to culinary careers. We’re developing The Reggae Chefs University, a training program where PIII Culinary Kit graduates can become Reggae Chefs, creating a full pipeline from education to entrepreneurship.
I’m incredibly proud of the impact my team and I have made—impacting the diets over 20,000 students, forming partnerships with governments and NGOs, and being recognized internationally for our work. I’m proud that we’re not just feeding people but teaching them to feed themselves and their communities sustainably.
I’m also proud of our children’s books, like “Dasheen Island” (part of the Food Securi-Tales collection, approved by the Jamaican Ministry of Education), and the upcoming “Breadfruit Bandit.” These stories feature the adventures of Mission:FoodPossible Agents and are designed to ignite children’s imaginations, foster empathy, and inspire them to dream big while learning about food security.
If you’re considering The Reggae Chefs for your next event, know that you’re not just hiring a service—you’re supporting a movement. You’re celebrating Jamaican culture, supporting food security initiatives, and contributing to a vision where every chef is socially aware and every community has access to nutritious food.
We’re passionate, we’re authentic, and we’re committed to making a difference—one meal, one student, one community at a time. Whether you’re enjoying our jerk chicken at a dinner party or learning about indigenous crops through Mission:FoodPossible, you’re part of something bigger.
That’s what drives me every day, and I’m honored to share this journey with you.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
The biggest lesson I’ve had to unlearn is how I handle disappointments. In my early days a large company met with me about a partnership that could have changed my life. They eventually found a way to implement my ideas and exclude me from the partnership. That lesson taught me that true innovation happens when the heart and mind is aligned. Ideas are gifted to everyone and success doesn’t BELONG to anyone. If your ideas can be stolen they weren’t yours to begin with. A huge part of entrepreneurship is innovation and true innovation happens when a problem and its solution takes root in the heart and mind.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
The pandemic was almost a death blow to the business model of The Reggae Chefs. Coronavirus altered how we did business for quite some time as people practiced distancing and became mindful of where and how they interacted with each other. As we recovered post-pandemic we realized that The Reggae Chefs needed to expand operations in different territories so we began our licensing program that allows us to train new Reggae Chefs giving them the opportunity to operate their own businesses while represent the brand. this pivot proved crucial to how e survived the pandemic.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thereggaechefs.com www.missionfoodpossible.com www.P3culinarykit.com
- Instagram: @thereggaechefs @PeterIveyOfficial @mission_food_possible @P3culinarykit
