Cottage food producers and food entrepreneurs can better understand what drives customer purchasing decisions at an upcoming webinar, “Make It Worth It: Pricing through Value,â€� on June 11, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The webinar is offered by the Food Innovation and Business Hub with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.  

Instead of focusing only on lowering prices, the session will shift the conversation to improving value and how a product looks, feels and is experienced by the customer. These considerations are important, according to Alex Van Alstyne, food business extension specialist at Iowa State.  

“Many food businesses assume they have a pricing problem when sales are slow. The first instinct is often to lower the price, but in many cases, that’s not the real issue,â€� he said. “Customers don’t make decisions based on price alone. They decide based on whether a product feels worth it.â€�

Participants will learn how to evaluate whether their product is truly priced too high or if other factors, such as quality, presentation or communication, are holding them back. The workshop covers simple but effective ways to improve product consistency, adjust size and packaging and create a stronger first impression at the point of sale.  

The session will also introduce the three key levers of pricing: cost, value and margin.  

“We’ll also show participants how to set up simple pricing experiments at farmers markets and other sales venues,â€� Val Alstyne said. “Customer choices, conversion rates and overall revenue can help producers identify the price point that works best for their product and their market.â€�

To attend the webinar, interested participants must register online.