Organic market data: Bridging the gap between data collectors and end users

Abstract

Successful decision-making in the organic sector is dependent on the decision makers having high quality market data. However the quality of organic market data in Europe varies greatly and only basic statistics exist in many European countries. Improvement of data quality first requires a usable definition of what constitutes data quality so that data suppliers can make any necessary changes. In this study, we aim to evaluate the quality criteria that are used in Europe, and we use the case of retail sales data to identify problems in the quality of that data type. We surveyed data collectors and data end users in two separate surveys. The results show that the commonly used data quality indicators represent at least two, or possibly even three dimensions, which has implications for their use for data collectors who wish to improve the quality of the data they supply. We conclude with some first steps that collectors may take to improve data quality.

Keywords: organic market data collection, challenges, needs of end users, Europe