The U.S. Dairy Export Council says record sales of cheese during June and strong sales of other dairy ingredients helped support double-digit growth for the first six months of the year.
Dairy Management Inc. CEO Tom Gallagher says exports made up 17 percent of milk production in June, partly because of the industry redirecting efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The export council pivoted knowing we were going to have difficulty in Mexico, the state and regionals pivoted when they saw that the foodservice opportunities were going to become far less.”
Shipment volumes were 28 percent higher than 2019, totaling more than 206,000 tons in June, with values up 22 percent to more than $583 million. Sales for the first half of 2020 were up 13 percent in value and 14 percent in volume.
