​Goya Trades Loyal Hispanic Customers For Laura Ingraham and James Woods!

In 1936, Don Prudencio Unanue and his wife Carolina, Spanish immigrants to Puerto Rico started Goya foods. From their small store front in Manhattan, they grew to one of the largest producers of Hispanic food products and "ranked #2 as a leading U.S. food brand for its social influence and community support, according to TotalSocial rankings" as stated on their website. For me, their products were ubiquitous part of a Puerto Rican kitchen as their seasoning were used by my great grandmother, grandmother, my mother and me. Much like the company ran by Don Prudencio's grandson, the use of their products was handed down from generation to generation.

All that changed on Thursday, when Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue decided to sacrifice all that goodwill and customer loyalty from the Hispanic community at the altar of Trump's frail ego & narcissism.

Goya Foods CEO: We're all "truly blessed" to have a leader like President Trump"youtu.be

UNANUE: We're all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder. And that's what my grandfather did. He came to this country to build, to grow, to prosper. 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.

Trump then added this bit of lie since he had just received praise from his Hispanic Prosperity asskissers guest speakers:

TRUMP: I will stand arm-in-arm with the Hispanic community to ensure that every child in America can grow up in safety, security, dignity, and in peace.

These words from Trumpito ring hollow as he has caged Hispanic children, demonized Mexicans, villainized immigrants from El Salvador & other Latin American countries, rescinded & is currently legally fighting to get rid of DACA and responded to the deaths of Puerto Ricans (who have the dual pleasure of being Latinx and U.S citizens) from Hurricane Maria with paper towel tossing indifference.


Many in the Hispanic community, after being mistreated by the Trump Administration for almost 4 years, let their displeasure known with #BoycottGoya and #Goyaway trending on social media.

Goya Foods CEO Robert "Bob" Unanue decided on Friday to appear on "Fox And Friends" and double down on the stupidity:

Goya Foods CEO reacts to backlash over praising Trumpyoutu.be

He sheepishly began by saying "it was nice to be talking with friends," as the Fox News hosts pretended that they knew ANYTHING about Goya before yesterday. He then made it clear that while he is free to express his free speech, his loyal Hispanic customer base should not exercise theirs by choosing not to buy his companies products because that's "suppression of speech." He then went to a false equivalence by bringing up he was previously invited to the White House for an events hosted by the Obama administration (like 2010 State dinners with The President of Mexico) and First Lady Michelle Obama's "My Plate" healthy eating initiative.

UNANUE: So, you're allowed to talk good or to praise one president, but you're not allowed to aid in economic and educational prosperity? And you make a positive comment and all of a sudden, it is not acceptable.

As a man who runs the biggest Hispanic food brand in the world, he should be aware of the examples we listed of why it's very different between Trump and President Obama. What he has done to the Goya brand in less than 24 hours is tantamount to corporate negligence. The fact he doubled down as CEO just shows the entitled conceitedness that could only come from being CEO through nepotism — which might explain why he relates to Trump.

But, as Sir Isaac Newton stated, "with every action comes an equal or opposite reaction" and that is never truer than with politics. So with millions of longtime and loyal Hispanic customers fleeing Goya, here come the Trumpers to now act like they are gonna replace us.

Like Laura Ingraham:

Or James Woods:

And of course, the Zodiac himself, "Ted" Cruz:

As our very own Stephen Robinson so eloquently put it about Ted Cruz:

Or AOC herself:

Of course these Trumpers are meddling with things of which they have no understanding. Just like an untrained necromancer could not resurrect anyone, so an untrained Trumpian gastromancer cannot resurrect their bland ass dishes without knowing how to properly use the Goya products they buy. Use Adobo wrong and your dish will die a salty death, use sazon in the wrong way your chicken will have a hue only seen on Trump's spray tan and we cannot explain the mysteries of sofrito both in flavor or how it can be ruined if mishandled.

But this is the core of modern conservatism these days. But unlike Hobby Lobby or Chik Fil A, this will not work out the same way. Corporations, like Goya, who employ professionals (unlike Unanue) understand that people who don't normally buy their products picking them up for a week or two in faddish pique doesn't make up for losing actual, long-term customers.

Hispanics have long memories. My Abuela died never forgiving her sister for a slight 50 years ago. Puerto Ricans hate Madonna and Michael Richards for disrespecting the Puerto Rican flag. Already Hispanics on social media have shared recipes and other brands that will get the money Goya has discarded.

Or as Top Chef and food critic Padma Lakshmi tweeted:

Good luck with your new customer base, Goya Foods. Hispanics are too proud to contribute to a company that endorses hate.

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Michael Mora

Your friendly neighborhood Puerto Rican Political Freelance Writer for @wonkette. Pop Culture observer, Amateur Movie reviewer & Comics fan. Former Active Duty Marine. All opinions are mine only.

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