If you watched any of the 2021 Summer Olympics, you saw some “fast” athletes. U.S. dairy exporters have also had their running shoes on this summer, pushing foreign sales of dairy product and ingredient to a record pace.

Lower U.S. fluid milk consumption and higher export volumes are changing the balance of how U.S. total milk solids are being sold. Based on calculations by Progressive Dairy, it’s likely the U.S. exported more total milk solids (butterfat, protein and other solids) during the first five months of 2021 than were consumed domestically through fluid product sales.

While record cheese exports pushed U.S. exports to record heights in April, it was dairy ingredients that drove May volumes to nearly that same record level, according to a monthly update from the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC). On a daily basis, May dairy product exports were the second highest for any month on record.