YouTube creators tout food as ‘universal language’ for global storytelling

[Photo; Nadia Shaw]

During the International Gastronomy Forum, Josh Carrott and Ollie Kendal, the British creators behind YouTube channels “Korean Englishman” and “JOLLY,” told global brands and tourism leaders on Monday to harness food as a “universal language” for digital content that forges genuine cultural ties.

The pair have more than 11 million combined subscribers.

“Korean Englishman” has 6.2 million subscribers, averaging 780,000 views per video, with peaks reaching 3,434,018, per HypeAuditor, while “JOLLY” has just under 5.3 million.

Together, the channels rack up billions of views, with YouTube Shorts exceeding 1 billion annually, according to the pair.

While introducing themselves, Kendal joked, “We received the invitation to come and deliver the keynote speech here, and we checked out the line-up… It was pretty daunting until we received the title for the speech, which was How Food Could Be a Great Vehicle for Digital Storytelling. We thought, oh, what a relief. That’s pretty much the only thing we know about.”

Carrott recounted how the pair met at university in 2007 and launched “Korean Englishman” (“艙措陴濠”) in 2013, drawing on his Korean studies. Their debut videos captured Londoners’ reactions to Korean street food.

“We thought […] maybe YouTube could be a good medium to cross that cultural bridge. After lots of brainstorming, we launched our first project about Korea, called Korean Englishman,” Carrott said. “This simple concept, capturing people’s genuine reactions to food and culture, began the incredible journey that we’ve been on now for the last 13 years… And that was, of course, food.”

“Before we knew it, we were sharing Korean food with pretty much anyone who would trust us to feed them. Admittedly, in the early days, it was mostly friends and family, but soon the mission expanded to feeding global icons, from Hollywood stars to professional athletes,” Kendal continued. “We’ve all got to eat, and that’s what makes food an amazing tool for storytelling.”

Addressing their second channel, Kendal explained that “JOLLY offers us a chance to return to our roots and share the simple joy of friendship with the world,” contrasting it with “Korean Englishman,” which focuses on bringing Korea to global audiences.

“JOLLY allowed us to explore the world outside of Korea… through the universal language of food,” he said. “The simple act of sharing food is the anchor that can ground your story in sincerity and relatability.”

In closing, Kendal distilled their 13-year journey into three lessons for global brands, tourism organizations and UNESCO Creative Cities representatives. “So, as we look to the future of digital storytelling […] the lessons […] are pretty simple. First, recognize the unparalleled power food gives as the ultimate equalizer… Don’t approach content as a critic but as a fellow traveler… Understand that authenticity is your most valuable currency… And finally, be relentlessly adaptable,” he said.

“Use gastronomy not just as a subject but as a vehicle to bring people together.”

FAO backs local chefs for $670b youth impact

In an earlier keynote, Flora Igoe, head of the FAO’s Youth Culture and Food Heritage Program, outlined her “Cooking the Next Batch” session on the Young Chefs Program (YCP). The World Food Forum (WFF)’s YCP pairs chefs aged 18–35 with mentors across capacity-building, advocacy and local projects.

During the presentation, Igoe spotlighted Daniel Chio, sous chef at Galaxy Macau; Sefa Rodas, head chef at L’Attitude at Morpheus, City of Dreams; and South Africa’s Lihle Mahambehlala at Ox Table from the 2026 cohort.

“Her project, Ox Table, will train at least 150 young people aged 10 to 25 in central Johannesburg to prepare nutritious, affordable meals using local and indigenous ingredients,” Igoe said of Mahambehlala.

On the two Macau chefs, Igoe said: “Daniel Chio is a sous chef at Galaxy Macau. His project works with Galaxy Entertainment Group and the Macau Government Tourism Office to develop zero-waste recipes applying nose-to-tail and root-to-leaf principles and to run community workshops on reducing food waste at its source […] Chef Sefa bridges cultures, Chef Lihle preserves and amplifies, and Chef Daniel integrates into sustainable practice.”

“Together they illustrate the range of what young chefs can achieve through collaboration. The scale of what we are building becomes clearer when we look at the evidence.”

Citing FAO data, Igoe said, “If all youth had access to decent jobs, the agri-food sector alone could add an estimated $670 billion to global GDP. This is not only a social good, but also a structural economic priority.”

“The three chefs […] are launching their community projects around June 18, Sustainable Gastronomy Day […] and will be presented at the World Food Forum flagship event in Rome this October.”

“This is not only a social good, it is also a structural economic priority.” Young chefs, she argued, “often reach people in ways that technical policy discussion alone simply can’t.”