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. Its founder, Prudencio Unanue Ortiz, migrated from Spain in the 20th century and established Goya Foods, the largest Hispanic-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. The family supported Michelle Obama in 2012 with MyPlate, an initiative to encourage Hispanics and African Americans eat a balanced meal.
First generation
Prudencio Unanue Ortiz, was the founder of Goya Foods. He was born in Villasana de Mena, in the province of Burgos, in northern Spain. In 1903, at the age of seventeen, Unanue migrated to San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, in search of employment opportunities and established a small food distribution business. In 1918 he moved on to New York City, to enroll in the Albany Business School, and in 1921 returned to San Lorenzo to marry Carolina Casal de Valdés, from Pontevedra, Galicia, whom he had met there and whose parents had also emigrated from Spain. The year after their marriage, the Unanues moved to New Jersey, 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.
Joseph A. Unanue 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 for bravery. He married Carmen Ana Casal and had four children: Andy, Mimi, Maribel and Mari. He died on June 2013 in Alpine, New Jersey.
Anthony Unanue
Francisco Unanue 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 and died in Puerto Rico on December 13, 2002 with the funeral held at the Iglesia Santa Teresita in 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
Third generation
Andy Unanue, current Managing Partner of AUA Private Equity Partners and former Chief Operating Officer of Goya Foods since 1999.
Joseph F. Unanue 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.
Robert “Bob” Unanue, CEO of Goya Foods since 2004. Robert Unanue was born in Wyckoff, New Jersey. 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.
Politics
In July 2020, Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue visited the White House and pledged one million cans of Goya chickpeas to food banks, saying "Americans are truly blessed to have a leader like Donald Trump." The comments sparked some negative reactions and calls for a boycott of Goya Foods, which in turned sparked counter-boycotts in support of Goya.
