I do not really equate ticket price to inflight amenity in this respect.
Now hear me out (OK read) before you jump all over this broad statement. Obviously I do not expect French Champagne and a EK F shower suite for $50, nor do I expect a party pie on a 12 hour flight.
BUT
Airline Pricing is not rational. And, just because the sticker price on a domestic sector might be $2k for full J that doesn't in any way reflect what every passenger in the J cabin is paying - some could be on points (and that's a whole minefield there).. some could be upgraded.. more could be on a connecting itin where the real cost of the one sector in particular is going to be very different, or even next to nothing if long haul international is involved.
And by that token an airline like QF should actually NOT in this regard care about the ticket price for a cabin of service when it comes to things like catering.
Obviously they do, because they operate in an environment of ensuring flights are profitable, so they will look at things like yield per sector (and again that's a different measure).
Even then it's not even so much about that. They have a budget and a spend/pax AND they clearly have a "philosophy" regarding domestic flight offerings (as discussed earlier).
How many people sitting in the J cabin of your average QF domestic flight actually pay full J? how many are on points? how many upgrades? How many are even staff travel? Yes, some of us do pay J fares for sure but many do not.. at least not directly.
And it shouldn't matter what has been paid for the flight.. the issue, to me, is not the ticket price(in cash, points or whatever) to determine "value" but is it a reasonable service for the sector, class and time of day. Most often for QF domestic flights, specially short-med haul.. the answer is no outside of main meal flights, and even then some of the offerings are not great.
This is a systemic issue within QF Inflight Services (whatever they are called) who make thee decisions. Maybe budget dictated.. maybe "decided" by Neil Perry types.. maybe a mix. I am certain it is a definite attempt to get J pax to eat in lounge and not on the plane (rage against lounge slop is a whole other thread
though MEL and BNE have had decent options over the past few months to my way of thinking and I've avoided SYD
). And yes, I know, lounges aren't always an option for those short on time or on short connections, or from ports with no lounge.
And finally the big puzzle to me has always been why OOL - a mostly leisure route - seems to have fare that is a step above most other ports. I've had some truly fantastic food out of OOL over the years.. always a puzzle.. but I digress.
The argument that "I paid $1k for this ticket and all I got was a lausy party pie" has merit yes, but remember one's paying for the transport service not just the meal, and the prices being charged for J are what the market is allowing.. if nobody bought the tickets(or no companies did, even those with big discounts) then the price would come down or the J cabin would disappear.