Seems like you want grep /^\Q$value$/, ... (see quotemeta ), but I agree with brother choroba that you are overcomplicating things.

• If you want a literal string to be anchored at start ^ and end $ , using eq is the straightforward solution.³
• If you want the literal value to match partially, using grep /\Q$value/, ... without both anchors makes sense.²
• If you want $value to contain some regex syntax, you have to escape the unintended metas individually°

updates

°) like "None \\(Private Label\\)" , please note the need for double escaping aka slasheritis

²) added missing \Q

³) see also 99 Perl Problems ;-)