Abstract
This study examines how US dairy processors are responding to the Net Zero Initiative’s (NZI) 2050 goal through semistructured interviews. Findings suggest advancing decarbonization requires harmonized accounting and reporting standards, sustained financial support, and positioning sustainability as an industry baseline rather than market differentiator. Acknowledgments: We thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback, which greatly enhanced the quality and clarity of this manuscript. We also thank Jessie Deelo, co-founded of The Climate Source, and Nichole Ayache, chief sustainability officer of the National Milk Producers Federation for helping us build industry connections. We are grateful to the eight anonymous senior executives from dairy processing companies for generously sharing their time and insights. Funding: This work is funded in part by the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under grant no. 2024-67024-42731.