For those who’ve attended food festival GastroBeats the past few years, Chua Jett Yong would be a familiar face.
The 30-year-old, better known as Jett, is the founder of Jett Barbeque — a home-based business and popular vendor at events — which specialises in smoked USDA prime ribs.
His pop-ups are always a standout, thanks to his gargantuan $80,000 custom-built smoker, which he imported all the way from Texas. The smoker has to be brought in by crane during events such as GastroBeats and Sentosa GrillFest.
After five years of running the business, Jett reflected on his F&B journey and his recent run at GastroBeats 2026 in an emotional Instagram post on June 25.
The first lesson is that running an F&B business is hard work. But despite that, he is extremely grateful that he can do something he loves.
“16-hour cooking days, non-stop work. There is something surreal [about] smoking meats beside Marina Bay Sands at 4am. It is my dream come true,” he penned.
Apart from the long hours, the second lesson that Jett has learned over the past few years of doing food festivals is the unforgiving weather.
“When it rains, zero sales. When it’s sunny, you get burnt,” he wrote.
But despite these challenges, Jett chooses to look at the positives.
“I am five shades darker now, but the friendships forged with other vendors and customers make it worth it.”
The third lesson is that having a good team is very important.
“I have the best team,” wrote a grateful Jett. “It is impossible to do everything alone. Have a good team, treat them well, pay them well, there is no shortcut to this.”
The fourth lesson would be to follow your heart.
Jett shared that to celebrate the brand’s fifth anniversary and his son’s first birthday, he gave away 750 free burgers, which made him happy.
“People asked why I gave away 750 burgers? Sometimes, it is not about earning money, but remembering why we cook food. We make food to make people happy,” he explained.
The last and fifth lesson is to never take things for granted.
Jett said that he is very grateful for all the support customers have given him over the past five years.
“Seeing so many customers support us and come back again, makes everything worth it.”
Jett shared that in the past, he used to think that having a great product was enough to succeed. But this mindset changed over the past few years.
“You need to work hard, care for others, tackle unforeseen circumstances quickly, give back where you can, and always be grateful for everyone who has helped us along the way,” he shared.
“I am still learning, but I am grateful to see how much I have grown over the past five years,” said Jett, while giving a shoutout to the two most important people in his life — his wife and son.
Jett Barbeque started humbly during the Covid-19 pandemic and through word of mouth, people learned of his barbequed meats.
In an interview posted on Instagram on June 13, Jett shared that to break even for this year’s GastroBeats event, he had to make $75,000.
Over the past few years, many F&B establishments have struggled and closed. To stay afloat, Jett said that he always makes sure to treat his customers well.
“Just take care of the customers and the customers will take care of you,” he said, adding that he treats them the way he would want to be treated.
He also attributed his success to his passion for his work.
“You must be passionate about what you want to do, and then everything you do will make sense to yourself, and then people will follow. You will be motivated enough to do the things that people won’t do,” he said.
As an example, he shared how on some weekends, he does not sleep for 60 hours straight because he is busy cooking to meet demand.
“[If] you’re passionate about what you’re doing then you can keep doing it non-stop.”
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melissateo@asiaone.com
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