It's not a fair comparison because there is so much variance in contract lounges and because, insofar as lounges act as a meaningful product differentiator, it's hard for customers to pick an airline based on quality of contract lounges at outstations. Also no idea about the cost structures, but I could easily believe that contract lounges cost the airlines a lot more than home lounge visits.

I've never eaten Crown Lounge food, but I also skip Finnair Schengen (Non-Schengen food is still good), any BA lounge (except maybe breakfast) and even at AF lounges I typically just have bread and/or yoghurt.

On the topic of bread, I always found it ironic that the Dutch are so into sandwiches yet sandwiches in the Netherlands are among the worst in the world. At least in the UK the "lunch sandwich" was usually something tasty, even from a supermarket. And other countries are able to make a sandwich with more than 1 topping without slicing an egg into it.