Against the backdrop of a rapidly evolving Dominican food distribution landscape, the head of one of the nation’s leading wholesale food industry groups is pushing for a targeted policy change that he says will deliver tangible relief to household budgets.
Ysmael Rodríguez, president of the Moca Association of Wholesale Provisioners (Asomaprom), used the closing ceremony of the 34th Expo Moca 2026 to deliver his appeal directly to Dominican President Luis Abinader. Rodríguez’s core proposal calls for requiring all imported agricultural goods to be routed exclusively through the country’s established wholesale sector. He argues that this streamlined logistics framework will cut unnecessary middleman markups, shrink overall costs for the national basic food basket, and guarantee that end consumers access affordable, fairly priced staple goods.
During his remarks at the industry event, Rodríguez highlighted the central structural role that wholesale provisioners play in the Dominican food system, acting as a critical bridge between domestic and international agricultural producers and millions of households across the country. He also expressed appreciation for President Abinader’s recent public recognition of the wholesale sector during the head of state’s visit to the country’s Espaillat province.
Beyond policy advocacy, Rodríguez celebrated a key milestone for the Dominican Republic’s national food security agenda: the country’s recent removal from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Hunger Map. Rodríguez framed this development as a landmark win for the entire Dominican agricultural ecosystem, noting that it reflects years of coordinated progress in expanding food access across the nation. Even with this achievement, he emphasized that sustained government investment and support for domestic food production will be critical to boosting the sector’s global competitiveness and locking in long-term food security gains.
Rodríguez closed his remarks by hailing the 34th Expo Moca as the most successful edition in the event’s multi-decade history. The five-day industry and public exhibition drew record-breaking crowds, generated stronger overall sales than any prior Expo Moca, and featured participation from more than 50 local and regional exhibiting companies. Thousands of attendees took advantage of special discounted pricing on a wide range of food and consumer goods during the event, and Rodríguez extended formal gratitude to event sponsors, participating vendors, and visitors for their collective contributions to the fair’s success.