A study called Clicks & Cravings: The Impact of Social Technology on Food Culture, finds almost half of American consumers learn about food via social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, and 40 percent learn about food via websites, apps or blogs. The infiltration of social media into the food experience goes far beyond purchasing and preparing food; it now includes the meal experience as well.

Indonesia is not far from the trend in food culture. A Jakarta Post article Sweet tweeting: Mixing food and social networking  illustrated the way one-person food businesses in Indonesia, Nuria's Kitchen and Aur's Cakery,  combine marketing with a more personal relationship with customers to reach a bigger market.

At Omar Niode Foundation we are interested to learn how food businesses, including restaurants, use social media to assist those in need. Our blog post Help End Hunger with Cucina Italiana a story of the partnership between Romano’s Macaroni Grill with No Kid Hungry in One Million Meals Campaign to help end childhood hunger in America has connected a child with 500 meals.

Last month we came across a post on a facebook page inviting more than 40,000 of its likers, named BakmiGMania, to join a campaign called 1000 Mangkuk Untuk 1000 Senyuman. Translated into 1000 Bowls for 1000 Smiles, it was a campaign from Bakmi GM, encouraging its customers to give attention to Jakarta street children.

Bakmi means noodle and Bakmi GM is a chain of noodle restaurants in Jakarta popular for its fast service and delectable food on the menu.

 Bakmi GM developed simple facebook app with simple things to do (all in Indonesian) for a 6-week campaign:

• Like the Bakmi GM facebook fan page
• Click "Bakmi GM: 1000 Bowls for 1000 Smiles”
• Click “send your support”
• Fill in your personal data (to be volunteers)
• Write your message for street children
• Invite your friends to join

Bakmi GM awarded points to the BakmiGMania who were successful in inviting their friends to support the online campaign. Biweekly winners received Bakmi GM vouchers.

Bakmi GM teamed up with ISCO Foundation for its 1000 Bowls for 1000 Smiles campaign. ISCO, the Indonesian Street Children Organization, is a non-government organization, located in Jakarta, Indonesia, dedicated to improve the quality of life of street children through education.

The number of street children in Jakarta, estimated this year by  the Jakarta Social Office, amounts to 7315 children with 65% of them receiving assistance from the regional government.

The main goal of ISCO is to help to improve the quality of life of these marginal children and give them not only hope, but also the means, to change their futures for the better.

ISCO instills the notion that street children can and should go to school and get involved in activities that develop personality, life values, creativity, leadership. The Foundation also provides counseling on healthy and clean living, protection, and advocacy on children's rights

Bakmi GM’s social media campaign fits ISCO’s missions of hope and changing the future for the better. Bakmi GM has a long history of business resiliency through hard work. It started with an eatery of 5 tables more than 50 years ago in Gadjah Mada Street located in the old part of Jakarta, hence the popular acronym Bakmi GM.

As noted by Ciputra Entrepreneurship,  the same family still owns Bakmi GM that now employs 1200 people serving 30 thousand customers daily in 25 outlets with 50 dishes on the menu.

The highlight of the 1000 Bowls for 1000 Smiles campaign was visiting street children in ISCO foundation’s area of operation in North, Central, and West Jakarta.

A team of volunteers, including those from BakmiGMania recruited through facebook, entertained the children and distributed delicious noodles in boxes. One thousand smiles brightened Jakarta, not only smiles from the street children but also from those who helped the campaign.

Some volunteers could not hold back their tears as these children were so excited to savor the noodles but managed to save some for their parents who have never tasted the ever-popular Bakmi GM.

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Images: Bakmi GM, ISCO Foundation, Omar Niode Foundation, Nuria's Kitchen