in reply to case insensitive: Which tree to bark up?

if (lc($ref->{prodname}) eq lc($value)) ...

unless you actually need to do a partial match, for which case:

if ($ref->{prodname} =~ /\Q$value/i) ... 

   MeowChow                                   
               s aamecha.s a..a\u$&owag.print

In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom