---
title: "Premium positioning research in a staple food category | antedote"
description: "Research on what justifies a premium in a staple food category: a survey of category buyers and a digital ethnography."
url: "https://antedote.com/explore-our-work/premium-pricing-evidence/"
author: "antedote"
---

# Understanding what justifies a premium in a staple food

In an everyday food, a premium has to justify itself every time someone shops. A food company wanted to understand premium in buyers’ own terms, so we paired a survey of category buyers with a digital ethnography.

**Client**
Food company

**Industry**
Food

**Market**
North America

**Kind of work**
Product and pricing

**Our role**
Survey and digital ethnography with category buyers on what justifies a premium

## The question

Shoppers in a staple category know what the everyday version costs, so a premium one has to give them a reason.

The executive team wanted to understand premium in buyers’ own terms: what separates a premium product from an everyday one in their eyes, which claims would make the difference, and where the buying happens.

## Our approach

We surveyed recent category buyers, in a sample built to represent the market.

We asked about specific attributes one by one, so the team could see which qualities buyers say set a premium product apart. We were clear about the limits of that. What buyers say they value is one part of the case for a premium, and does not by itself show what they would pay.

Purchase context got equal weight, because a premium only matters where people meet it. Alongside the survey, a digital ethnography went deeper with a group of category buyers over time.

## What the team came away with

The executive team had evidence from both sides of the work on what buyers associate with a premium, and where the buying happens.

The survey gave the breadth of the market and the ethnography the detail of real buying, so a premium could be argued from both.

Who we heard from

Category buyers, in a survey built to represent the market and a digital ethnography

## Related work

[View product and pricing case studies](https://antedote.com/explore-our-work/?work=Product%20and%20pricing#library)

- Food

    ### [Hearing from consumers before a food brand’s leadership summit](https://antedote.com/explore-our-work/leadership-immersion-before-a-summit/)

- Food

    ### [Choosing a food brand’s voice for a neighboring market](https://antedote.com/explore-our-work/a-food-brands-story-next-door/)

    The brand later ran a new campaign in that market.

**What we do**
[Pricing research](https://antedote.com/what-we-do/pricing-research/)

## Planning a range or a price?

Bring the choice in front of you, and we’ll suggest how to approach it.

[Talk to us](https://antedote.com/talk-to-us/) · [hello@antedote.com](mailto:hello@antedote.com)

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