If I plonked a piece of cardboard in front of you and it just said the following, what would you think?
Steak – £23.95
How about this?
Rib-eye steak – £23.95
Or this?
Casterbridge Farm rib-eye steak – £23.95
Or this?
Organic Casterbridge Farm rib-eye steak – £23.95
Or, finally, this?
28-day dry-aged Organic Casterbridge Farm rib-eye steak – £23.95
Suddenly – certainly in our minds – a simple ‘steak’ takes on a value that makes it worth that £23.95, just with the addition of a few, simple, extra words.
The strange thing about this is: does anyone actually know where ‘Casterbridge Farm’ (or any farm mentioned on a menu) actually is, or if that is a farm well known for producing good quality beef? Or do we just see the word ‘farm’, with a name attached, and feel reassured?
Oh, and ’28-day dry-aged’? For any other food category, outside of meat, surely that just means ‘off’?
There you go, though – that’s how you turn ‘steak’ into something far more interesting, worthy of the attached price tag. Clever.
