Appetite for success: How Zermatt Neo became a YouTube star through competitive eating

Today, he is a lot more financially “comfortable”, he said. Neo has not only amassed the necessary equipment for content creation, he has also built a team to work on creating and producing videos.

“I am very comfortable working with this bunch of people. It almost does not feel like I am working, it feels like I am hanging out with my friends,” he said.

THE INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESS

For Neo, his profound love for food and eating – in particular local hawker fare – has become the bedrock of his content. This deep-seated passion resonated with his expanding audience, who were drawn to the captivating blend of competitive eating and storytelling that he offered.

“The food scene here is vibrant. Everyone uses the word melting pot, so I am going to use it as well to describe the combination of all the different cuisines you can find in Singapore. I believe there is still so much more to unpack for the hawker scene which is why we like to visit the hawkers,” said Neo.

In addition, he noted that there are not that many competitive eaters doing street food challenges, hence creating a niche for his channel. “It is a showcase of Singapore’s hawker scene to the rest of the world,” he said.

He also enjoys shining the spotlight on lesser known hawkers in order to offer them some much needed publicity to improve their business.

Neo recalled how he once filmed a food video at a char kway teow stall. “The day after I posted a video, there was a long queue at the stall that the owner had never experienced before. He kept selling out of food,” he said.