There are, but they’re more along the lines of small-time “artisanal” producers of chicken and pork, who often have heirloom breeds, etc…
I mean, you don’t hear about Mangalitsa pigs unless you’re looking at the higher-end pork. But then again, rich people don’t generally pay for high end raw materials like pork, chicken, beef, etc… they pay a chef to make them delicious food, who sources that stuff because they think it tastes better, etc…
Soft drink wise, there are higher end brands, but they’re not that high end. I mean, you can go buy Fever Tree, Fentimans or any number of super-local sodas made by bearded hipsters, but they’re not (at least to me), markedly superior to the mass-market stuff, especially when talking about commonplace flavors.
That’s the catch- in lots of stuff, there are higher end options, but they’re not that much higher end. For my vote on the OP’s question, I’m going to nominate laundry detergent and dishwasher detergents. Somehow I doubt that the super-rich (or their servants) are using some sort of laundry detergent made from organic coconuts, or that they have some kind of special dishwasher detergent. Their undies are getting washed in Tide or Gain just like everyone else.
Breakfast cereal. I collect breakfast cereal, and even the most expensive, organic, ancient grains fancy stuff doesn’t cost much more than the average box. The only time you will pay more for breakfast cereal is if it’s a discontinued variety that is no longer available in stores.
I would have agreed with you if I hadn’t had the restaurant-made ketchup at Crazy Burger. Though Crazy Burger is a little pricey, to my NYC eyes, it’s not outrageous.
It occurs to me that many dishes like that originated specifically as a way of taking poor quality cuts of meat and making something good out of them. Barbecue would be another example, hell probably the classic example. The whole purpose of barbecue was to take the cheap, tough cuts of meat and make them tender by cooking them for a long time. There’s a saying that you can tell if a barbecue place is good by the fact that there are both pickup trucks and Cadillacs in the parking lot. There’s no such thing as fancy barbecue. If a place is good people of all economic classes will eat there.
Nepalese food. Possibly the most horrific cuisine in the world. Basically just a bunch of stewy glop dumped on some rice that you’re expected to eat with your hand.
Ah, but Nepalese spices make the glop wonderful. And then they put the glop in nice little buns…
But I dropped in to mention that my poker gang is full of gourrrrmands, who HAVE to tell you the brand name and price of everything they bring to a potluck. The wine from the south slope of the Tuscan monastery where you have to stay for a week before they’ll sell you only three bottles. The cheesy poofs from under the counter of a convenience store in Kuala Lumpur, but “I’m the only gaijin allowed to taste them because I might have killed the man who left the proprietor’s daughter at the altar…”
So, you bet there’s rich people meat:
"Now, this is a beef you’ve never had, it’s like waygu but it’s hard to find. Literally. I have to get off the bullet train between Tokyo and Kyoto at an unmarked station and walk over a mountain. I could tell you where, but you are never going to find this little farm, no one knows it’s there. Anyhow, this guy has a select number of cows that he keeps indoors, and personally filets the best one for me while I’m standing there. The guy’s amazing, he uses a tiny samurai blade from the Wang Dynasty, and the cut is like a filet mignon but from a specific area of the cow just behind that.
“Now, I’m going to just sear the outside until the Maillard reaction kicks in, but the inside’s going to be almost raw, just take a small bite and roll it around in you mouth… oh, why did you take a sip of wine? Now you’ll have to wait fifteen minutes until you get your bite.”
Back in the '90s a coworker (low pay level) was dating a really rich guy (she was hot). She wanted to get him “the most expensive [something]” but was really limited in what she could afford. So she found a high-end jump rope. I think it was around $60. Nice jump rope, to begin with, but one of the handles measured your heart rate and the other one counted your jumps.
So you might think there is not a fancy version of a jump rope. Anyway I thought that. But there was! And now there are probably even better and fancier ones, if you look. But a regular old jump rope will still get the job done.
Well sure, if you simply want to only be a console peasant… Though even there, the whole experience is a lot snazzier with a bunch of speakers and a giant TV.
On the food part, there may not be rich people chicken and pork, but your local farmers market may have examples of both of those that go for 3-6 times per pound what a typical grocery pork chop or broiler does. Are they worth it? Ehhhh, depends on your budget. I’d say they taste different.
For sodas there’s always stuff from foreign countries. The engineering that goes into some Japanese soft drinks is amazing. Not a repeat buy from me though.
Tiffany & Co has a whole line of normal stuff made expensive. Like a paper plate, except in sterling silver. Or a small set of LEGO-type building blocks in sterling silver and walnut.
Perhaps there’s no fancy version of ketchup because sophisticated types don’t eat it? Surely there are fancier sauces one would eat, possibly something based on one of the mother sauces. Or one’s chef could prepare ketchup from scratch.
