The Unanue family of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

is a wealthy American family of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

origin. They were the 170th richest family in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in 2014 according to ''

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'', having a net worth of US$1.1 billion. The patriarch, Prudencio Unanue Ortiz, migrated from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

in the 20th century and established

Goya Foods 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 ownersh ...

, the largest

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

-owned food company in the United States. The family's members include Joseph A. Unanue and Andy Unanue. Goya Foods is the 377th largest private American company.

First generation

Prudencio Unanue Ortiz (1886–1976), was the founder of Goya Foods. He was born in Villasana de Mena, in the

province of Burgos The Province of Burgos is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia, Cantabria, Vizcaya, Álava, La Rioja, Soria, Segovia, and Vall ...

, in northern Spain. In 1903, at the age of seventeen, Unanue migrated to

San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico San Lorenzo (, ; Spanish for "''Saint Lawrence"'') is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the eastern central region, north of Patillas and Yabucoa; south of Gurabo; east of Caguas and Cayey; and west of Juncos and Las Piedras. S ...

, in search of employment opportunities and established a small food distribution business. In 1918 he moved on to

, to enroll in the Albany Business School, and in 1921 returned to San Lorenzo to marry Carolina Casal de Valdés (1890–1984), from

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the ''Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality wh ...

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

, whom he had met there and whose parents had also emigrated from Spain. The year after their marriage, the Unanues moved to

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

, where Don Prudencio, as he was always known in his firm, became a broker for Spanish foods. The company was originally known as Unuaue & Sons and in 1961 it changed to Goya Foods. The couple had four sons, Joseph A., Charles, Francisco and Anthony.

Second generation

* Charles Unanue (1923–????) Charles was born in Puerto Rico. In 1969, he was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer of all of the companies, including Goya. However, he was later dismissed. * Joseph A. Unanue (1925–2013) New York-born Joseph Andrew Unanue served as president and CEO of Goya Foods from 1976 until 2004. He had served in the United States Army during World War II, and was awarded the

Bronze star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

for bravery. He married Carmen Ana Casal (b. Puerto Rico) and had four children: Andy, Mimi, Maribel and Mari. He died in June 2013 in

Alpine, New Jersey Alpine is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan. It is the easternmost community in New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 1,849,

. *Anthony Unanue (1927–1976) Engineer, while in Maryland worked briefly for the federal government. Died in 1976 aged 48. Had six children, the eldest Robert, Tom, Peter and three others. *Francisco Unanue (1931–2002) He founded Goya de Puerto Rico in the 1960s becoming president of that division. He was also a founder of the Spanish Chamber of commerce in New York. Francisco “Frank” Unanue Casal was born on June 17, 1931 in

Ridgefield Park, New Jersey Ridgefield Park is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the village's population was 12,729,Santurce. He was buried at the Cementerio Porta Coeli in Bayamón. He married Diana Margarita Lopez and had four children, Frankie, Carlos, Anne-Marie, and Jorge. *Augusto Falero Unanue (1911–2000)

Third generation

* Andy Unanue, current Managing Partner of AUA Private Equity Partners and former

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 Goya Foods since 1999. * Joseph F. Unanue (1957-1998) vice president of operations for Goya Foods since 1995. He previously was general manager of Goya de Puerto Rico. He was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, and had married Isabel Banuchi having three daughters, Isabel, Sofia and Juliana. * Carlos Unanue, as of 2013 is president of Goya de Puerto Rico. * Frank Unanue, as of 2013 is president of Goya operations in Florida. * Jorge Unanue * Robert “Bob” Unanue (1954-), CEO of Goya Foods since 2004. Robert Unanue was born in

Wyckoff, New Jersey Wyckoff is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 16,585. At the time of the 2010 census, the township's population was 16,696, reflecting an increase ...

and the eldest of six children to Anthony Unanue. In 1973 the family moved to Spain for a few years where he assisted his father with an olive oil production business. During this period, he enrolled at the

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, it has a present student body of over 69.200, and is one of the top-ranked universi ...

. He is married to Muriel Fitzpatrick. Unanue ran operations in Puerto Rico for seven years during the 1980s. * Tom Unanue as of 2008 ran the Florida operations for Goya. * Peter Unanue, Executive Vice President of Goya Foods.

Politics

The family supported Michelle Obama in 2012 with MyPlate, an initiative to encourage Hispanics and African Americans to eat balanced meals. In July 2020, Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue visited the White House and pledged one million cans of Goya

chickpeas The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its different types are variously known as gram" or Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean, or Egyptian pea. Chickpea seeds are hi ...

to food banks, saying "Americans are truly blessed to have a leader like

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 ...

." The comments sparked some negative reactions and calls for a

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict s ...

of Goya Foods, which in turn sparked counter-boycotts in support of Goya. On 7 December 2020, CEO Robert Unanue stated that

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 ...

was named "employee of the month" after her boycott call led to a tenfold sales spike. On January 20, 2021, Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue claimed on Fox Business that the

novel coronavirus Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a provisional name given to coronaviruses of medical significance before a permanent name is decided upon. Although coronaviruses are endemic in humans and infections normally mild, such as the common cold (caused b ...

was used by the Democratic party, media, and technology elites to control the American public and steal the 2020 US presidential election: “I think this is mission accomplished — mission accomplished by the union, the partnership, the conglomerate of social media, Big Tech, big media, and government, big government — for ushering in the dawn of a new world order, this Great Reset, with an unverified election.” In the same interview, Unanue also claimed that the coronavirus would disappear soon after the inauguration of Joe Biden and that there would soon be a civil war in the United States: “There is a war coming, now that the president is leaving today, there's still coming after the United States, the working class.” On January 25, 2021, Robert Unanue was censured by Goya's board of directors after he made unfounded public claims about voter fraud during and after the 2020 presidential election. He is not allowed to speak to the press in regards to the politics of the company without permission from the board. The majority of the company's board favored removing Unanue from his position, but the family-owned business regulations did not allow for that. In February 2021, in a speech given at CPAC, Robert Unanue continued to deny the results of the 2020 election, falsely stating that Trump was "the real, the legitimate, and still the actual president of the United States”. Unanue also stated "We still have faith that the majority of the people in the United States voted for the president," despite Biden defeating Trump by more than 7 million votes.

References

{{Reflist Families from New York (state) American people of Spanish descent

First generation

Second generation

Third generation

Politics

See also

References