Robert Unanue, President and CEO of Goya Foods, poses for a portrait in company production … [+]
Publishing a press release to announce your fire may not be common, but that did not stop Robert “Bob” Unanue.
On February 23, the former President of Goya Foods scored a press release announcing his departure from his grandfather. “Today, Robert ‘Bob” Unanue, with over 20 years as President and Goya Foods CEO, is issuing a statement about his status with the organization as well as his plans for the future, “the release begins, posted through Newswire.
“After 48 years of company service, Unanue was informed that he had a vote from the board for his” employment “as president of the company. As for the nature of the decision and reasoning behind him, unanue currently has no real answers, Noting that the company has also not publicly indicated that unanue is no longer a leader of Goya Foods. “
A rack full of Goya products in La Playa Market in Miami, Florida
Goya Foods was founded in 1936 by Spanish immigrant Prudencio Unanue Oritz, Unanue grandfather. Since New Jersey -based company has earned over one billion dollars in revenue each year. In 2014, Forbes called the Unanue family one of America’s richest, with a net value of 1.1 billion.
Since February 25, Goya Foods has not yet made a public statement about a change in leadership, though the unanue position has been controversial for years.
In June 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemia, Unanue angered clients when CEO publicly praised President Donald Trump. Calls to boycott Goya Foods followed and Unanue refused to apologize for a statement that isolated most of the Goya client base. The main food boycott seemed not to have much effect on brand sales, with Goya reporting a peak of $ 1.5 billion in 2023.
Despite the reaction, Unanue continued to support President Trump, publicly capturing the trick claims after the 2020 elections and the blame of President Joe Biden to raise the prices of food items and border security issues. He spoke at CPAC 2021, claiming that Trump was “still the current President of the United States”. The controversial comment led to the board of directors of Goya censoring their CEO, stating that he could no longer speak in the media without the approval of the preliminary board.
Food products have been collected at the Goya factory in Secaucus, NJ
“Independently, I have made the decision to lower the temperature and get away from talking about politics and religion,” Unanue in the New York Post for Board descending at the time. “I understand that it is important because of the different views of our company and market.”
However, Unanue took the scene to speak the first night of the Republican National Convention of 2024 in Milwaukee, embracing the topic “Make America rich again” and comparing the name of Vice President Kamala Harris with “Que Mala”, which will says “so bad” in Spanish.
Unclear what leads the board to finally rest unanue after years of barbed action, and Goya Foods has not yet to comment.
Unanue wasn’t the only CEO who left a big food company this week. The Director General of Unilever Hein Schumacher was replaced with CFO of the corporation, Fernando Fernandez, after less than two years in the role.
“While the Board is pleased with Unilever’s performance in 2024, there is much more to go to give better results in the classroom,” said Unilever Ian Meakins, for selecting the board to remove Schumacher.