It is one small cost difference. I recollect another reason was the difference in the marketing and costs to promote a well known brand vs the limited to none for the lesser.
Consider also!
I discovered a massive rabbit hole looking at making pasta whether fresh, hard dried or factory. For fresh home made pasta the only consistent recommendation is to not use self raising flour.
For Italy dried pasta must be made from flour produced from a selected portion of the endosperm (semolina) of durum wheat. Only the harder (higher protein portion) of the endosperm is selected. The rejected grindings from the endosperm are used to produce durum wheat flour.
When reading from an epicurean article or high profile brand press release pasta making appears a magic art that imparts both measurable and implied perfection. Hence product and brand recognition, and facts reimagined where appropriate, IMO.
However, a food scientist might not be so likely to split hairs or assign special properties to the type of metal alloy used in the dies for forming machine made pasta.
Of note is the obsession with chefs making their own pasta (hand made and fresh) which is also traditionally how pasta (noodles) are made in Asia. Apologies again to Italy and any notion if it is not made in Italy it’s not pasta. A reality is hand made pasta and dry factory pasta are not the same product. Another reality is in Italy the two different pastas are not interchangeable. IE each variation in pasta product fresh or dry is paired with a particular dish/sauce and often with regional preference.
As to the choice of durum wheat and the portion of the semolina selected during milling. It is all about the gluten, high protein content of the selected portion that imparts the desired properties of plasticity, elasticity to the end product. Durum wheat grew well in northern Italy and produced high gluten (hard grained) wheat leading to recognition of it for pasta making.
Is there potential for difference between two dried pastas of the same type? Substitution of the sourced flour with other wheat flours or grains is possible, subject to labelling requirements. Whether the product is inferior in practice or imagination is open to consideration. There is also scope in how selective the producer is in the fraction of the endosperm taken in the milling process. The less of a fraction selected the more expensive the semolina flour. Whether any difference is likely to be significant is also for consideration.
There is a recurring observation concerning quality dried pasta worth considering. Good quality pasta is more resistant to over-cooking due to the quality of the semolina used. Worthy of a future cook off in the Choice kitchen of the various products from the supermarket shelves including fresh and hand made?
