Goya Foods, Inc. is an American producer of a brand of foods sold in the United States and many Spanish-speaking countries. It has facilities in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Spain. It is under third-generation ownership of the

Spanish-American Spanish Americans ( es, españoles estadounidenses, ''hispanoestadounidenses'', or ''hispanonorteamericanos'') are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European American group in th ...

Unanue family The Unanue family of New York City is a wealthy American family of Spanish origin. They were the 170th richest family in the United States in 2014 according to ''Forbes'', having a net worth of US$1.1 billion. The patriarch, Prudencio Unanue Orti ...

, and is headquartered in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.

History

Goya Foods was founded in 1933 (some sources claim 1936), by Prudencio Unanue Ortiz (1886–1976) from

Valle de Mena The Mena Valley () is a municipality of the province of Burgos in Spain. It is located in the autonomous community of Castile and León, bordering the provinces of Alava, Biscay and Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an auto ...

, Spain. Prudencio immigrated to Puerto Rico, where he met and married Carolina Casal (1890–1984), also a Spanish immigrant; they later moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The family had originally opened a small store called "Unanue and Sons" in 1922; however, it was converted to wholesale in the mid 1930s. Prudencio purchased the "Goya" name from a Moroccan sardine company because he believed that his last name was too difficult to pronounce for American customers and also liked the association to Spanish artist

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...

. When Prudencio Unanue died in 1976, he left Goya to his sons,

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, Charles, Francisco and Anthony.Susanne Craig
Joseph A. Unanue, Former Chief Executive of Goya Foods, Dies at 88
''New York Times'' (June 15, 2013). Upon his father's death, Joseph A. Unanue became chief executive of Goya, then a fairly small, $8.5 million company.Miriam Jordan
A Family Fights Over the Future Of Goya Foods
''Wall Street Journal'' (March 11, 2004). As president and chief executive of the company, Joseph shared control with his brother Francisco, who served as president of Goya de Puerto Rico Inc., responsible for much of the company's manufacturing operations.Joseph B. Treaster

''New York Times'' (December 4, 1998). Joseph A. Unanue's son, Joseph F. Unanue, was general manager and vice president of Goya de Puerto Rico from 1989 to 1996, when he became executive vice president at the company's New Jersey, assuming the No. 2 position in the company; he died two years later. During Joseph A. Unanue's decades at the head of the company, Goya grew to become a major corporation. By 1998, the company produced about 800 food items (including rice, beans, sauces, and spices), had 2,000 employees, and about $700 million in revenue. Joseph A. Unanue was ousted from his position as Goya chairman and CEO in 2004, amid an feud in the Unanue family about the direction of the company. At the time of Joseph A. Unanue's ouster, Goya was generating from $750 million,Stephen Miller
Joseph Unanue Took Hispanic Food to the Masses at Goya Foods
''Wall Street Journal'' (June 14, 2013). to more than $1 billion in revenue. Joseph's son

Andy Unanue Andy Unanue is the current Managing Partner of AUA Private Equity Partners, an operationally-focused, lower middle-market private equity firm that targets Hispanic-oriented and family-owned companies. Unanue is the former Chief Operating Officer ...

, the

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

of the company, also left Goya amid the disagreement,Robert Schwaneberg
NJ Senate candidate Andy Unanue fell from grace at family's company
NJ.com (March 26, 2008). prompting litigation.

Robert Unanue The Unanue family of New York City is a wealthy American family of Spanish origin. They were the 170th richest family in the United States in 2014 according to ''Forbes'', having a net worth of US$1.1 billion. The patriarch, Prudencio Unanue Orti ...

and his cousin Francisco Unanue made the decision to remove Andy, who had previously been considered the "heir apparent" to Goya. Joseph Unanue retained a significant stake in the company, and retained a seat on its board; he died in 2013. Robert Unanue has been the chief executive since 2004.Lauren Hirsch
Family-run Latin food giant Goya weighs possible $3 billion sale
CNBC May 29, 2020). The fracturing of Goya's ownership among its founders' descendants has frequently led to disputes about the company's strategy. In 2012, the company began construction on a $127 million distribution center in the industrial Meadowlands area of

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.tax incentives that aided the company in its move from

Secaucus Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 16,264,The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and pri ...

about a possible buyout; the company ultimately decided not to sell itself to The Carlyle Group.

Description

Goya manufactures and distributes products from the Spanish, Puerto Rican,

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

and Central and South American cuisine. Their products are sold in stores and

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

chains throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and international markets. In 2006, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' ranked Goya 355th on its list of the largest private companies in the United States. Between 2014 and 2016 Goya opened five new facilities including manufacturing and distribution centers located in New Jersey, Texas, California, and Georgia to meet rising consumer demand. Currently, Goya Foods is headquartered on a lot in Jersey City, New Jersey. Goya also operates a manufacturing facility in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic, and a distribution center in

Bayamón, Puerto Rico Bayamón (, ) is a Bayamón barrio-pueblo, city, Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of Puerto Rico and suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan located in the northern coastal valley, north of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, Aguas Buenas an ...

Corporate affairs

Goya Gives

"Goya Gives" is a program to support various charities, scholarships, and events, and includes donations of products to food shelters and food banks during times of crisis, such as Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. In March and April 2020, in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Goya donated over of food, or about 270,000 meals, to food banks and other organizations in the United States, and also donated more than 20,000 protective masks.

MyPlate/MiPlato campaign

In 2012, the company joined

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

's " My Plate" healthy eating initiative.

President Trump comments

On July 9, 2020, at a

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

roundtable The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...

discussion of the Hispanic Prosperity Initiative with

President Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, Goya Foods co-owner and CEO Robert Unanue praised Trump, saying the country was "truly blessed ..to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder" and adding, "we have an incredible builder and we pray, we pray for our leadership, our president and for our country, that we continue to prosper and to grow." Unanue's comments prompted a call for a public boycott on social media, which was supported by various Latino public figures, including

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of th ...

, Julian Castro and Lin-Manuel Miranda. In response, Unanue stated the next day that this was a "suppression of speech" and declined to apologize for his comments. Supporters called for an anti-boycott " buycott" in support of the company. Goya used its corporate Twitter account to call attention to its pledge made at the White House event to donate cans of food for those affected by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and a Goya supporter launched a GoFundMe campaign that raised money to buy Goya products and donate them to food pantries. On December 7, 2020, Unanue stated that Ocasio-Cortez was named 'employee of the month' after her boycott call led to a 1000% sales spike. On January 26, 2021, Goya's board of directors voted to censure Unanue following statements disputing the

2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...

, banning him from speaking to the media. An anonymous

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

source familiar with the board’s actions claimed that Unanue's statements "imperiled the future of the company and endangered the lives of some of the shareholders," and that the controversy following Unanue's White House appearance had not been good for the company. The majority of the company's board favored removing Unanue from his position, but the family-owned business regulations did not allow for that. During CPAC 2021, Goya Foods CEO Unanue claimed the 2020 election was illegitimate, and that Donald Trump is 'the real, the legitimate, and the still actual president'.

Cultural impact

Goya Foods logo and imagery has been "appropriated" by multiple contemporary fine artists who use the images in their paintings, prints and sculptures, most notably Cuban-American artist

Ric Garcia Ric Garcia (born 1968 Miami, Florida) is an American fine arts painter, digital printmaker, and curator of Cuban Americans, Cuban ancestry currently working and residing in the Greater Washington, D.C., Washington, DC area. Education Garcia stu ...

, sculptor Alexander Mijares, painter John Kilduff, and others.

References

External links

{{commons category
Goya Foods

American companies established in 1936 Food product brands Food manufacturers of the United States Food and drink companies based in New Jersey Companies based in Jersey City, New Jersey Hispanic and Latino American cuisine Hispanic and Latino American culture in New York City Hispanic and Latino American culture in New Jersey Latin American cuisine Spanish-American cuisine Spanish-American culture in New York City Food and drink companies established in 1936 1936 establishments in New York City Privately held companies based in New Jersey