Speaking during the International Cocoa Conference of the Cocoa Merchants Association of America (CMMA), Minister of Agriculture Luis Ramon Rodriguez said that the DR exported in 2012 around 75,000 tons of cacao generating US$180 million. Rodriguez spoke at the Cocoa Merchants Association of America (CMMA) conference at the Paradisus Palma Real Golf & Spa Resort in Bavaro from 5-8 March. This was the first time the event was held in a cocoa-producing country outside of the United States. Those attending the conference visited a typical Dominican cocoa farm, heard speakers discuss the history of Dominican cocoa, saw how cocoa paste has been made for centuries and visited with local farmers. The keynote address was given by Juergen Steinemann, CEO of Barry Callebaut AG, on the future of the cocoa and chocolate industry. Attending were origin exporters, international traders and brokers, multinational cocoa processors, executives and purchasing managers from the major branded global chocolate manufacturers, commodity bankers, commodity hedge funds, and logistics companies.
Jose Antonio Martinez Rojas said that cacao leads in Dominican export money crops.