Maybe you could split up the line into two statements to find the problem easier:

if ($ref->{prodname} =~ /$value/) {
  # worked
}
elsif($ref->{key1} =~ /\Q$value\E/) {
  # worked
}
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For the next step, try to replace /\Q$value\E/ with /^\Q$value\E$/<P> If it still works, the only possibility that comes into my mind are newlines (e.g. if you read something from a file or STDIN) in either $ref->{...} or $value. You can remove them with chomp( $ref->{...} ) or the like.

Then, $ref->{...} eq $value might work as well.

If you need case insensitive comparisons, try $ref->{...} =~ /^\Q$value\E/i, or in the next step:
if (lc ( $ref->{...} ) eq lc($value) ) {

Best regards,
perl -e "s>>*F>e=>y)\*martinF)stronat)=>print,print v8.8.8.32.11.32"