Insights for Food Business Owners: The Invisible Price Tag

Walk into almost any restaurant and you’ll see a menu. But what you won’t see is the invisible price tag your customers carry in their minds before they even sit down. It’s built from years of habit — from the places they’ve eaten, the prices they’ve paid, the value they’ve come to expect. You don’t have to know them personally to understand this. You just have to know their history.

Take roast duck in Thailand. For decades, MK has been the country’s reference point. It’s affordable, familiar, and woven into the dining memories of millions. The moment you decide to serve roast duck, you’ve entered MK’s universe — whether you want to or not. Your customers already know what they’re “willing” to pay. You can fight that anchor, or you can work with it.

I choose to work with it. My price sits near theirs, not because I think my duck is the same — in taste, it’s very different — but because I want customers to feel, subconsciously, that we’re not expensive. It’s an unspoken handshake: you trust me with your money, I respect the number in your head.

This is why I believe in humility on profit and aggression in trust. A fast casual restaurant thrives not on margin alone, but on habit. More customers at a lower profit can be more valuable than fewer customers at a higher profit. Volume is not just about sales — it’s about repetition. And repetition, over time, becomes loyalty.

The way you communicate that matters too. In our shop, we never list prices without VAT or service. What you see is what you pay. No small print, no surprises. It’s not a marketing gimmick — it’s a tone. A way of saying, we’re here to be fair with you. Over time, that tone becomes part of the brand’s DNA, just as it has for companies like Toridoll.

And here’s the thing about menus: change isn’t always the answer. New items can be exciting, but they can also be noise. The real test is whether you can make customers come back for the same thing, over and over, without them feeling bored. Ichiran Ramen has built a global empire on essentially one dish. Consistency can be more powerful than variety — but only if the product earns it.

So much of running a restaurant is about the things your customers never say. The numbers they never tell you. The comparisons they never admit to making. The trust they never announce but show in the quiet act of returning. That’s the business you’re really in — not just serving food, but working with the invisible price tags in people’s minds.

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