What PAKT learned from the acquisition of Scrambled

After earlier acquisitions, PAKT had learned an important lesson: value is not created by preserving a company exactly as it is.

When PAKT acquired Scrambled in 2023, it was a different kind of acquisition.

Most acquisitions are built around companies that are already performing well. Scrambled was more of a turnaround case. The company had strong creative capabilities, a clear niche in food content and experience in developing formats, but the market around it had changed.

For years, much of Scrambled’s business came from recipe videos for supermarkets. Then audience behavior shifted. Recipe videos lost impact. Influencers became the new food media. Budgets were under pressure after the pandemic, and AI began changing how content could be created and scaled.

Scrambled was at a crossroad: change or become less relevant.

For PAKT, that crossroad meant change.

After earlier acquisitions, PAKT had learned an important lesson: value is not created by preserving a company exactly as it is. Value is created by understanding what still works, being honest about what no longer works and building a new strategy around the strongest parts.

With Scrambled, the action plan was clear: leverage what we know and combine it with new ingredients.

The old recipe-video market was declining, but something else was working. Scrambled had experience creating TV formats for 24Kitchen. These formats often used young chefs with strong personalities and social followings. They were not just chefs. They were influencers.

That became the insight.

The new TV chefs are online food creators. They have audiences, credibility and cultural relevance. At the same time, many creators want to move beyond social platforms. Television gives them a new stage, a format and a different kind of legitimacy.

For brands, the combination is powerful. Television gives structure, production value and reach. Influencer marketing gives trust and direct access to communities. Social media gives speed and shareability. Together, they create formats that can live across channels.

This is where PAKT saw the new role for Scrambled.

Rather than remaining a traditional food content production agency, Scrambled could become a format-based agency: developing formats, producing them, bringing influencers into them, connecting sponsors and building content ecosystems around them.

Maurice Wenneker, founder, PAKT: “When you combine influencers inside a format, you keep their reach, but you build a stronger brand environment around them.”

This also creates value across PAKT. By connecting Scrambled more closely with NOSH, the group can offer a stronger full-funnel proposition for food clients. Scrambled creates the format, entertainment layer and influencer-driven reach. NOSH supports advertising content and brand assets around it. Together, they create a loop between television, social, branded content and commerce.

The next step is TikTok Shop as a complement to Scrambled’s TV formats. Audiences can watch the show, engage with creators and shop directly from the content experience. The format no longer ends when the episode ends. It extends into clips, recipes, creator content, sponsor activations and direct purchase moments.

Food was the door opener. The niche made the move into television and social commerce more credible. It gave PAKT a focused way to experiment with new channels, formats and commercial models.

The transition was not easy. Moving from a traditional content production agency to a social-first, TV-format and influencer agency required a different mindset, offer and revenue model. It was no longer only about producing food content. It was about helping brands build attention, trust and conversion through formats.

Marjolein Kiestra, managing director, Scrambled: "I never saw Scrambled as just a food content agency. What has always inspired me is the power of storytelling, creating formats that bring together creators, brands and audiences in meaningful ways. As the media landscape evolved, it became clear that content production alone would no longer be enough. We needed to build ecosystems around ideas, talent and distribution. PAKT recognised that ambition and gave us the platform and support to accelerate it. Together, we've transformed Scrambled into the company it is today, and we look forward to continuing to build and grow it in the years ahead."

This is where being part of PAKT mattered. When times are hard, companies either come together or fall apart. At PAKT, the response was to come closer. Scrambled was not left alone to solve a difficult market shift. The group brought acquisition experience, strategic support, complementary companies and the patience needed to build a new proposition.

Maurice Wenneker: “In difficult times, the group has to move closer. That is where you find out whether you are only a collection of companies, or a real ecosystem.”

For PAKT, Scrambled shows what a turnaround acquisition can be. It is not about buying a perfect snapshot. It is about seeing potential in a difficult moment and doing the work needed to unlock it.

As PAKT continues to look for acquisitions and new business ventures, Scrambled shows why niche expertise matters. In this case, food became the way into TV formats, influencer ecosystems, social commerce and full-funnel brand growth.

Change is never easy. But when you adapt with purpose, and when the group comes together around the strategy, change becomes the start of the next opportunity.

www.pakt.co

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