When Premium Ingredients Do Not Justify the Price
By Fiona van Iersel
Minerva Empowerment
Research in Marketing
1 November 2024

Premium pricing for familiar comfort food raises a simple question: what extra value does the customer actually feel? Comparisons between a pasta bar and a hotel campaign made me curious about how differently brands answer it.

I have paid 25 bucks for mac and cheese in the States. It had truffles and lobster, but it was not even that extraordinary. I never went back.

The ingredients sounded premium. The experience did not make the price feel worthwhile. That gap is where an impressive description can lose the repeat customer.