Fun facts
1924
Founded in
40,000
mt tons of cocoa beans imported into the U.S.
95%
of cocoa products are in CMAA WIP Certified Warehouses
2.8B
pounds of chocolate consumed in the U.S. per yearpounds of chocolate consumed in the U.S. per year
About Us
A brief outline of CMAA’s history
The Cocoa Merchants’ Association of America, Inc., (CMAA) was founded in 1924 by Isaac Witkin on the floor of the original New York Cocoa Exchange located at 1 Wall Street Court, New York City and focused on bringing companies within the small cocoa trading community together. CMAA contracts were composed, and our longest standing tradition was organized – the CMAA Annual Golf Outing.
Our leadership
The CMAA is governed by its Board of Directors which includes representation from the trading and importing communities as well as processors, branded companies and service providers.
Thomas P. Hogan
Chairman of the Board
Thomas P. Hogan is President of General Cocoa Company. Mr. Hogan’s career, which started in 1983, has only been in the merchant/trading segment of the cocoa supply chain. His early training in – logistics, finance, commodity accounting and grading provided the basis for his trading career which began in 1986. He has been working with General Cocoa Company since 1990
Christian McCormack
Vice-chairman of the board
Christian McCormack is Vice President of trading for Olam Cocoa in New York City, where he is responsible for the physical and futures trading operation in the Americas region. He manages the procurement, marketing and risk positions for the US and contributes to the global trading strategy for Olam Cocoa. Christian has been with Olam Cocoa since 2009
Matt Lilienfeld
Secretary/treasurer
Matt Lilienfeld is Senior Relationship Manager and Head of US Softs Sales and Trading at ADM Investor Services. After beginning his career in Cocoa, he spent 8years concentrated on Global Macro and Commodity Sales focused on servicing an institutional clientele before rejoining ADMIS to re-focus back on Cocoa in 2014. He currently manages the US Softs futures execution and clearing operation for ADMIS. Matt is an ICE Licensed Cocoa Grader.
Martin Bischof
Director
Martin Bischof is a Physical and Derivatives Trader for Barry Callebaut USA. He started his career in Commodity Trading in 2010 with a leading oil seeds and grain processor and was based in London, UK. He joined Barry Callebaut in 2011 and held various functions in Cocoa Pricing, Risk Management and was heading Cocoa Market Research before relocating to Chicago in 2020. He holds a MA in Political Science and Economics and a DAS in Commodity Trading from University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Matthew Brauner
Director
President of Brauner International Corp., began his career in Customs Brokerage and freight forwarding in 1982 when he joined the family business started by his grandfather in 1931. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and earned his MBA from Fairleigh Dickenson in 1988. He obtained his Customs Brokerage license in 1991. Mr. Brauner is a current member of the board of the Cocoa Merchants Association and currently Co-chair of the Regulatory Affairs Committee.
Zack Byko
Director
Zack Byko is the Senior Strategic Sourcing Manager – Cocoa at Mars Wrigley. He’s held various roles in cocoa bean and product sourcing since joining the Cocoa Team at Mars in 2014. Prior to cocoa, Zack’s experiences at Mars were in raw material buying, commodity research, and applied meteorology.
Melissa Callanta-Rechner
Director
Melissa Callanta-Rechner is the Cocoa Products Trader for Atlantic Cocoa Company, Inc. Melissa began her career in cocoa at ED&F Man. She started The obroma USA as the satellite office for The obroma BV in 2009. In 2015, when ECOM Cocoa completed the acquisition of The obroma, she joined Atlantic Cocoa.
Anna Flaig
Director
Anna Flaig is the Trading, Risk and Margin Leader for Cargill Cocoa and Chocolates North America. She joined Cargill Cocoa and Chocolate in 2019. Prior to cocoa, Anna has held various roles in trading, product line management, risk management and analytics in grain, feed and fertilizer markets.
Eric T. Holt
Director
Eric T. Holt is the Chief Commercial Officer at Holt Logistics Corp. Eric has been part of the family business since 2007 when he Graduated from Villanova University with a degree in Finance and Business Law. Eric’s main focus on a day to day basis is execution of all key operations that support the import/export of cargo segments in and out of the Port of Philadelphia. This includes Customer Service, Sales, Planning, Terminal Operations, Warehouse Operations, Logistics Solutions, and FinalMile Delivery. All of this is done by continuing dialogue and working relationships with key Government Agencies such as U.S. Coast Guard, CBP, USDA, and FDA.
Alberto Nacer
Director
Alberto Nacer is Vice President Soft Merchandiser at StoneX’s subsidiary, FCStone Merchant Services, managing their cocoa trading business since 2017, focusing on the commercialization of cocoa beans and cocoa products in the US and Asia. He has over 20 years’ experience in the cocoa industry, having served through the years as Director of Anecacao, Ecuador’s Cocoa Exporters Association, and as representative of Ecuador’s cocoa private sector at the International CocoaOrganization (ICCO). He is a 1998 graduate of the Universidad Laica VicenteRocafuerte de Guayaquil.