Goya Foods Boycott Takes Off After Bob Unanue Praises Trump - The New York Times
I’ve never bought a Goya product but I hear they are very good. I will now seek them out and buy their products whenever I can.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
"We're all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump," Bob Unanue said on Thursday at the White House. Critics said they would no longer use his products.
Julian Castro, the Democratic former presidential candidate, was one of many critics who noted that Goya Foods had been a staple of Latino households for generations.Credit...Mel Evans/Associated Press
By Derrick Bryson Taylor
- July 10, 2020Updated 2:54 p.m. ET
Goya Foods, whose products are a staple of American households, became the target of a boycott and considerable backlash on Friday after its leader praised President Trump during a visit to the White House.
Bob Unanue, the president of Goya Foods, was at the White House on Thursday to announce that the company would donate one million cans of chickpeas and another one million pounds of food to food banks in the United States as part of the Hispanic Prosperity Initiative, an executive order from Mr. Trump that was created to improve access to educational and economic opportunities.
During the appearance, Mr. Unanue said the United States was "blessed" to have Mr. Trump as its leader.
"We're all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder," he said. "And so we have an incredible builder. And we pray. We pray for our leadership, our president, and we pray for our country, that we will continue to prosper and to grow."
Mr. Unanue's comments drew swift condemnation on social media from people who were upset that a company whose products are popular among Latinos and others would so openly support a president who has vilified immigrants, especially those from Latin America, and whose harsh policies have targeted them. The hashtags #Goyaway and #BoycottGoya quickly formed to share criticism from many, including those who routinely buy Goya products.
Among those angered by Mr. Unanue's comments were Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the democratic socialist from the Bronx, who on Thursday retweeted an image of the news conference from the White House, adding, "Oh look, it's the sound of me Googling 'how to make your own Adobo.'"
Julian Castro, the former housing secretary and Democratic former presidential candidate, noted that Goya Foods, a family business, had been a staple of Latino households for generations. "Now their CEO, Bob Unanue, is praising a president who villainizes and maliciously attacks Latinos for political gain. Americans should think twice before buying their products. #Goyaway."
The actor and activist Lin-Manuel Miranda on Friday added: "We learned to bake bread in this pandemic, we can learn to make our own adobo con pimienta. Bye."
Marion Nestle, emeritus professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University and creator of the blog Food Politics, said Goya's customers had "plenty of justification" for boycotting.
"Unanue's support of a president who loses no opportunity to diminish the humanity of Goya Foods' core Latino customers is at best tone deaf, and at worst an explicit endorsement of the president's discriminatory attitudes and policies," she said in a statement.
Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack, a Mexican cookbook author and food blogger, said it was both "surprising" and "sad" to hear Mr. Unanue's comments. In 2013 she told The Washington Post that she often recommended Goya products with her recipes because they were so widely available.
"The only way I think that Goya will come back after this boycott is to give back to the community in a big way, to get the respect from the Latino population, whether it's donating to food banks or specifically to the Latino community," Ms. Marquez-Sharpnack said.
Goya Foods on Friday issued a news release about the company's donation, but did not address the controversy around Mr. Unanue's comments.
In an appearance on Fox News on Friday, Mr. Unanue defended his comments.
"It's suppression of speech," he said, noting that in 2012 he was called to work with the first lady, Michelle Obama, on a different initiative that focused on helping families make healthy meal choices.
"So you're allowed to talk good or to praise one president, but you're not allowed, when I was called to be part of this commission to aid in economic and education prosperity and you make positive comment, all of the sudden that's not acceptable," Mr. Unanue said.
He added, "So I'm not apologizing for saying — and especially when you're called by the president of the United States, you're going to say, 'No, I'm sorry, I'm busy. No thank you.' I didn't say that to the Obamas, and I didn't say that to President Trump."
ImageRobert Unanue, the president of Goya Foods, and President Trump in the White House on Thursday.Credit...Evan Vucci/Associated Press
While there were calls to back away from Goya products, a counter hashtag, #BuyGoya, also began spreading on Twitter and was widely shared among conservatives and Trump supporters.
"Want to know the best way to fight #CancelCulture?," wrote Matt Schlapp, the conservative activist and commentator. "Support American businesses like @GoyaFoods that the Left demonizes."
Goya Foods was founded in 1936 by Mr. Unanue's Spanish grandparents, Don Prudencio Unanue and his wife, Carolina. The company started as a storefront business in Lower Manhattan and sold authentic Spanish products, including olives, olive oil and sardines, to local Hispanic families. Business steadily grew over the following decades, and Goya Foods is now the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States, with over 4,000 employees worldwide. Mr. Unanue, who according to an NBC profile started working in the family business at age 10, began overseeing the company in 2004.
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I predict this will go the way of the Chick-fil-A boycott. In that Goya’s business will now boom better than ever. Just like Chick-fil-A’s did.
Goya on people, Goya on.
I intend to contribute to that.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CChhtnPlN47/?igshid=563bnok5udah
Boycotts have never been shown to work. All it does is give free publicity to the boycottee.
Most Hispanics I know here in Colorado are not supportive of illegal immigration, and how Obama handled it.
In this case, it’s all TDS driven. Makes little sense at all.
Most I know emigrated legally and feel the same. Several very good friends that I met in the Marines. They did their time, went through the legal process and are now productive American citizens.
How it’s suppose to be done ......
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCha6rel_To/?igshid=1iavu14k7zfte
Good call. How many people who use Goya products all the time even know or care about all the progressive outrage?
Let me ask Maria: Vas a dejar de usar Goya?
I do what you want Vic!
Nope, they don't even know about it!
Lol
I will have to purchase some products from this company next time i go to the grocery store.
I did earlier! I use their frozen "wrappers" to make empanadas
Yum
My girls love them, and I have found that if you spray them with cooking spray and stick them in the oven, they are not only a little healthier, they actually come out crispy just like if you were to fry them. You can stuff them with anything! I have done ham and cheese, breakfast stuff, taco meat and cheese, fajita meat, etc....
Uummmm bacon, vadalia onion, mushrooms, red pepper and jalapeños ..... all of sudden I’m hungry ....
Me too. I’m going to make a point of buying their products because of this.
Those calling for a boycott of Goya are welcome to go do unmentionable things to themselves many times over!
probably backfire like the famous chick filled a boycott did.
I certainly hope so.
Chick Fil A became the number one seller of chicken after the boycott!
Priceless!
Wonder if I can buy stock in Goya? Sounds like a good investment.
Good question, I’m gonna check it out. I’ll let you know what I find
Think they are still a privately held company. Very philanthropic though. From wiki:
AOC on the wrong end of the stick once again.
Or the Whole Foods one before that and before Amazon took over.
I looked and it seems to be a privately held company.
This is a very clear indication of just how disconnected from reality rich people can be. It's not suppression of speech, he got to say what he wanted. The first amendment does not guaranty protection from the consequences of stupidity. If your business primarily serves a community under attack (real or imagined), praising the person responsible for the attack really has to be filed under 'STUPID'.
I predict the boycott will be at least as effective as the one on Chick Fil A!!
Perhaps, but irrelevant. My point is that if I am a successful high end crèche manufacturer, announcing during a business interview that I am active in the Church of Satan would be stupid. I wouldn't volunteer that info.
True but not even close to the same thing as supporting your duly elected President unless one has a bad case of TDS.
Then I suppose they would think it’s stupid.
I had to look crèche up. Is this correct?
It is a model or tableau representing the scene of Jesus Christ's birth, displayed in homes or public places at Christmas.
Most legal resident Hispanics don't feel and think like you do.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCgvDwcHj-Z/?igshid=kujlresk92ck
I didn't express a position. However, 30% of Hispanic voters supporting him is hardly 'most'.
Being 'duly elected' is not a reason to support someone. Support is earned or lost by actions taken. Trump currently trails Biden by 39% among Hispanic voters. Unanue's comment is most likely an unforced error; which is what I illustrated with my crèche example.
Funny, that's just the opposite of what many on the left said when Obama was elected.
I guess this is different eh?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCgK18agsvG/?igshid=1d7dmgmetokrx
I have bought Goya products in the past. They generally have a high quality product in the Mexican foods genre.
I dont know anything about this boycott but I will read into it and think about buying Goya or not in the future.
I have never tried it, but people I know that do all say it is a very good product line.
And notice that we conservatives did not boycott the company when that very same CEO went to the White House to work with the Obamas’ on their initiatives and he said nice things about them. More cancel culture stupidity.
So in other words, your decision on whether to buy a good food product in the future would be based solely on the fact that the CEO of said company said something nice about President Trump?
Yep.
Yeah, what a sad existence eh?
Trump signed the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act. 80% of its benefits are going to the top 20%; when the cuts for individuals expire, 90+% will go to the top 1%. Trump started a trade war with China with no clear strategy for resolution. The war has devastated farmers, and driven manufacturing into recession. Trump's epic mismanagement of the pandemic is killing tens of thousands of Americans, has destroyed our economy, and made the US a pariah nation. Derangement is supporting Trump.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCkK9NHFISE/?igshid=1jzhqcnb9rh40
You're only allowed to meet with Barrack and Michelle Obama types. Meet with Trump..... You're instantly labeled "EVIL", no matter what Good you've done in the past (Kinda sounds familiar, statutes, monuments and all) !
It's nice to see the " Toby Kieth Syndrome " still comes around now and again.
More should "Shoot the Bird" to these wingNutz "diaper wearing Perfect do-gooders" more often !
UFC star Jorge Masvidal on Friday defended Goya Foods
“Actions of Goya Foods speak louder than the #woke mob. My people don’t get influenced by those that don’t know. They’ve been helping our people when we needed it most,” Masvidal tweeted, linking to a story about Goya donating a million pounds of food to those impacted by Hurricane Maria in 2018.
foxnews.com/sports/jorge-masvidal-defends-goya-foods-ceo-backlash
Well said Jorge!
This guy is now claiming that the boycott is infringing on his right to free speech. No it isn't. He had the right to say what he did, but he needs to understand that there can be consequences to free speech.
He’s too worried about it. This will be a boon to his business. You watch.