For a long time, price was a simple language.

Higher meant better. Lower meant compromise.

Today, this relationship is no longer stable.

In food retail, price no longer reflects exclusively cost or quality. It reflects a strategy. A positioning. Sometimes, an intention of differentiation that has no real correspondence in the product.

The consumer does not see the mechanism.

They see the result.

Two similar products, positioned at significantly different price levels, create tension. Not one of choice. But one of trust.

Because, in the absence of a clear difference, price no longer functions as a reference point. It becomes ambiguous.

And ambiguity does not convince. It confuses.

In this context, price conveys a message. But not always the intended one.

A price that is too low may suggest compromise. Even when the product is correct.

A price that is too high may promise more than it delivers.

In both cases, the problem is not the product. It is the perception created around it.

This distortion has a slow, but constant effect.

It erodes trust.

The consumer becomes more cautious. Less loyal. More dependent on context than on the product.

For producers and retailers, the challenge is not setting a competitive price.

But setting a coherent price.

A price that explains the product. Not one that contradicts it.

Because, in a market where information is abundant but attention is limited, price remains one of the most powerful signals.

And when it communicates incorrectly, correction is difficult.

(Photo: Freepik)