The effect of the Dutch Nitrogen crisis on stakeholders’ attitude towards sustainable dairy.

While the Dutch dairy industry copes with increasing stakeholder attention towards sustainable practices, the Nitrogen Crisis, started in 2019, received unprecedented media coverage and public support. The aim of this research is to analyse the effect of the Dutch Nitrogen crisis on the stakeholders’ attitude towards sustainable dairy. To research this, a literature review was carried out, five expert interviews were conducted, and four self-administered quantitative surveys were held. It was concluded that the end consumer (N=880) was considered a dependent stakeholder, who was dominantly positive towards sustainable dairy but showed a high standard deviation. The dairy farmers (N=134) were positioned as dominant stakeholder, who showed divided attitudes. The government (N=15) was considered dominant stakeholder and was unanimously positive towards sustainable dairy. The business customer (N=11), who was assigned as dangerous stakeholder, also showed predominantly positive attitude but was the least willing to financially contribute. Based on the survey findings, there was no evidence found that the stakeholders’ attitude was significantly changed due to the Nitrogen Issue. Since there has been little research about the current crisis so far, this study will be beneficial to understand the attitudes in the Dutch dairy industry, in context of the Nitrogen crisis.